[2] England v [4] Australia

                       [1]   Nick Matthew v David Palmer             Palmer leads 11/5
                       [2]   James Willstrop v Stewart Boswell      Boswell leads 2/1 (pld in '02, 05, 07)
                       [3]   Peter Barker v Cameron Pilley           Pilley leads 1/0 (pld in '02)

                    [1] Egypt 1-2 [4] Australia

                 [3]  Mohammed Abbas bt Cameron Pilley    7/11, 11/7, 11/4, 11/8 (62m)
                 [1]  Amr Shabana lost David Palmer            8/11, 6/11, 11/6, 6/11 (55m)
                 [2]  Karim Darwish lost Stewart Boswell       8/11, 11/7, 9/11, 8/11 (73m)

                   [2] England 2-1 [3] France

                 [3] Peter Barker bt Renan Lavigne                  11/6, 11/6, 11/6 (42m)
                 [1]  Nick Matthew bt Grégory Gaultier             11/3, 11/6, 11/4 (41m)
                 [2]  James Willstrop lost Thierry Lincou           10/12, 8/11 (25m)

                                                POOL B:
                GERMANY beat FINLAND  2-1
        Simon Rosner 3-2 Olli Tuominen          11/8, 4/11, 10/12, 15/13, 11/3 (62m)
            Johannes Voit 0-3 Henrik Mustonen    8/11, 6/11, 4/11 (28m) 
            Tim Weber 3-2 Matias Tuomi               11/9, 9/11, 11/5, 7/11, 11/6 (60m) 

Germany hold off the Finns

The pool stages came to a close today, and although we only saw one minor seeding upset, Finland came so, so close to upsetting Germany.

Today's playing order was 1-3-2, so first up were Simon Rosner for Germany and Finland's Olli Tuominen, with 51 places separating them in the world rankings. But it was the German who triumphed, coming from 2-1 down and saving match balls in the fourth to win 11/3 in the fifth.

Henrik Mustonen levelled the match with a straight-games win over Johannes Voit, but at this point the Finns must have been thinking what might have been.

So it came down to the number twos, Tim Weber and Matias Tuomi, and in another five-setter Germany survived to take their place in the last sixteen.

Germany now meet England while the Finns get a bye in the first round of the 17-29 playoffs.

"We were luckier today, we didn’t expect Simon to pull off the first tie considering that his opponent Olli Tuominen had played so well against Amr Shabana.

"But Simon didn’t give up even though it is difficult to play Ollie when he is in his rhythm. A patient game helped helped Simon."

"Squash is not a big sport in Germany, but in four-five years our juniors will hopefully do better."


German Coach

Semi-Finals Day ...
the rest of the world

Where's Joshna ?

"Where's Joshna Chinappa?" someone asked at the championship, because there have been local women players of India like Deepika Pallikal and Anwesha Reddy around this week.



Joshna's father Anjan who was there to watch and applaud Ritiwk's effort against Egypt on Monday, said: "Joshna is in South Africa training with fitness expert Heath Matthews."

Heath sometime ago worked with another India star tennis icon Sania Mirza during her comeback from injury.

So we should see a better Joshna in the circuit next time around. Because of her ranking Joshna has been often run into the top seeds in the early rounds and bit the dust, although she once had a US Open semi-final spot.

Before she left for Durban Joshna received an award for achievers at the hands of India's lady President Pratibha Patil.
 

Walker watches
over US

Former England great and current US coach Chris Walker was disappointed over the team's showing against South Africa.

"South Africa had a lesson in squash for us. My boys learnt what it is to play a big match, I hope the players realise that they can't take things for granted. There is one thing in learning what to do, another how to execute it."



Asked for a silver lining, Walker said: "There is this article in the New York Times which says squash is growing in the US. That parents are realising that if their kids play squash they have a good chance of getting into the universities where squash is big.''

Indian kids and their parents realised this decades ago. Anil `Lucky' Nayar, from Bombay (NOW MUMBAI), a Drysdale Cup winner, went to the US in the sixties on a squash scholarship and won not only the US collegiate title but also the US Open title.

In his wake over a hundred boys and girls followed suit and they brought glory for their universities. Lads like Dinyar Ali Khan, Adrian Ezra,Akhil Behl, Rishad Pandole, and more recently Siddharth Suchde, Akhil Behl, Indian 1997 champ, who was a collegiate semi-finalist is here for the World team. He recalled beating current US player Julian Illingworth, a Yale freshman, at the collegiate event. He said Julian had improved by leaps and bounds.

There was a time when US played hard ball and it was thought that the problem of transition to soft ball would delay the advance of the players.

Walker said: "Today's kids have begun only with soft ball so there's no problem there. The only problem will be application.''

He also wanted the sport to grow nationwide rather than stay in pockets like the east cost and some other centres.

In the end he said; "Watch out for Dillon, a 12-year-old I am coaching at the next Drysdale Cup ..."

The Blue Corner
Renan Lavigne, #2

Jesse beats Julian

Spain beat Kenya

       QUARTER-FINALS       playing order 2-1-3

       [1] EGYPT beat [10] INDIA 3-0
            Wael El Hindi 3-0 Ritwik Bhattacharya     13/11, 11/4 11/8 (44m)
            Amr Shabana 3-0 Saurav Ghosal            11/5, 11/8, 11/9 (30m)
                          Mohamed Abbas 2-0 Siddharth Suchde   11/6, 11/8 (22m)

   [4] AUSTRALIA beat [6] CANADA 3-0
         Stewart Boswell 3-0 Mathew Giuffre      11/4, 11/8, 11/4 (33m)
         David Palmer 3-1 Shahier Razik           10/12, 11/7, 11/6, 11/6 (64m)
                           Cameron Pilley 2-0 Shawn Delierre      11/3, 11/7 (16m)

     [3] FRANCE beat [5] MALAYSIA 3-0
             Thierry Lincou 3-0 Ong Beng Hee         11/9 11/6 12/10  (36m)
             Gregory Gaultier 3-1 Azlan Iskandar    11/8, 11/7, 9/11, 11/7 (48m)
                          Renan Lavigne 2-1 Muhd Asyraf           11/8, 10/12, 11/5

    [2] ENGLAND beat [8] NETHERLANDS 3-0
           James Willstrop 3-1 Tom Hoevenaars     11/6, 11/7, 9/11, 11/8 (40m)
           Nick Mathew 3-0 Laurens Jan Anjema     11/6, 11/6, 11/9 (40m)
                          Peter Barker 2-0 Piedro Schweertman    11/4, 11/2 (20m)
  

Top four
through to Semis

One all-European semi ...

Defending champions England blanked giant-killers Holland 3-0 and amazed the Indian squash buffs by then having a workout on the all-glass centre court where they play tomorrow's semi-final against France, who beat Malaysia 3-0.

French star world number 3 Gregory Gaultier said: "I am happy I had a competitive the match against Azlan." Thierry Lincou also had a keen tie against Ong Beng Hee, who had his moments in the opening and closing games.

And one Antipodean-African

The other semi-final pits top seeds Egypt against many-time winners Australia. Egypt beat India 3-0 despite resting number two Karim Darwish and Australia beat Canada 3-0 with only David Palmer having problems getting past Shahier Razik.

Razik, a top 20 player, worried the Aussie with his consistent returns, the occasional drop from back, and his returning ability and sudden winners stumped Palmer in the opening game which he lost over extra points. But when Palmer slowed him down he suddenly lost control of the game.

Stewart Boswell had earlier given Australia the lead and Cameron Pilley wrapped up the dead rubber for the Aussies.

India beaten but not disgraced

Ritiwik Bhattacharya lost the first game against Wael El Hindi on extra points 13-11, not having much luck with refereeing decisions as he went on to lose in three. "I wish I had the luck in the first, it would have been a different match. In the next two it was a slugfest," said Ritwik.



Saurav Ghoshal played his shots against World Champ Amr Shabana, who played them well thanks to the accuracy and width of his shots, especially the crosscourts. Saurav did have him stumped with a volley drop or two and some drives to length, but Shabana went through 11-5, 11-8, 11-9.

In the third tie Siddharth Suchde could not perform as well as the other two, losing the dead rubber tie to Mohammed Abbas 6-11, 8-11.

"It was a totally different level," said Suchde. "The length of the shots that came back at you was totally different than you expected. They have that kind of touch."

The tenth seeds, who made this round for the first time and were rewarded by the Squash Rackets Federation of India with a Rs 2.5 bonanza, now play for 5-8 positions meeting sixth seeds Canada.

Power back next time for Canada

In Tuesday’s tie against Canada all eyes will be on veteran Jonathan Power who is still playing for Canada despite retiring from the pro tour almost two years ago. It appears he has some back pain and was rested from Canada’s game against Australia.
  

"Nick Matthew had a good run-up to the semi-final with his match against LJ Anjema, but James Willstrop was a little out of focus against Tom Hoevenaars.

"We beat France in a four-player Euro match but lost last time we had a three-player affair."

"It’s amazing how when the Egyptians want to win a point they do so."


Former Indian champion

"Saurav is fast, has good hands, if he stays hungry he can make the top 20 and go higher.

"Ritwik had some unlucky calls from the referee. But for that he could have made the match interesting."



"Amr has fantastic racketwork, it's phenomenal how much width he gets on the crosscourts."

"I’m feeling sore. I have respect for the Indian players. It will be a tight match."

"I remember Mumbai and the Mahindra Open ... Jansher beat me 15-13 in the decider of the semi-finals ..."

Looking good for India & Asia

"The win over Wales can only be good for the sport in the country. We knew it was possible but we had our fingers crossed. I am happy for the boys.

"I'm looking forward to taking the sport forward in Asia. India, Malaysia and Hong Kong are pushing it. Singapore, once a force, has fallen back, also Thailand, but China will come if it becomes an Olympic sport. It is an Asian Games sport and China will have it in the next Asiad in Guangzhou. In fact a Chinese delegation is coming here tomorrow to study the facilities here."


Asian Squash Federation Secretary

"This is what is called winning ugly. I am not disappointed. Abdullah is a good player so fit at this age, Rahmat has been doing good work the boys.

"Alan Clyne is a comeback specialist so he pulled one back. But it was good we had Harry Leitch at the end, his experience counted."

29th for Taipei

The youngest of the tournament Kan Han Chang was pitted against the oldest, Sergey Kostykin. The match ended dramatically when Kan stretched for a return and his legs were completely splayed sideways in the manner of a gymnast. Shows how fit the Taipei players are.

Sergey, who promotes Black Knight sporting gear back in Moscow, said "the kid was playing tough squash."

A disappointed Taipei manager Amingo said: "We are through with the event, taking the wooden spoon, the 29th spot. But we will be back."



Swedes swing it

Sweden won an extended match against Finland their traditional rivals thanks to the injured Badr Abdel Aziz playing his first game and winning. "It still hurts the groin but I managed," said Badr, who said he was looking for a break until after the new year.

Coach Jonas Gornerop said: "It was important to beat our old enemies. We had a tough draw he hoped to finish in top 16 but now play for 17-20. Every player played well, even the guy who lost because it was 2-3."

"Japanese women have a better record than our men. We had two women in the last eight of the 2006 Asian Games at Qatar. They are playing on the WISPA circuit also. Unless squash gets into the Olympics it will be hard to support squash. But the silver lining is that squash became part of the Japan Olympic Committee two years ago.

"The JOC provides 50 per cent of the funding, otherwise we had to shell out from our own pockets.

"Soccer, baseball, women’s golf (men’s golf has gone down) and volleyball are the sports that attract the youth. Malaysia has a system where you get tax rebates for funding sporting teams, I hope it comes to Japan."

Aqueel gets
one for Austria

The redeeming feature of Austria’s loss to Japan was the win by their Aqeel Rehman. He is the son of a Pakistani father and Austrian mother. Father Shafiq runs a Pakistani/Italian restaurant in Salzburg. Rehman, ranked in the 80s, said a big junior programme was in the offing in Austria. But he said there wasn’t a squash boom after Vienna staged the 2003 World Team event. "It’s okay, the squash in our country."

The youngest v the Oldest  ...  experience wins, for today ...

Photo Gallery

View from the Hexagon:
Renan Lavigne reports

"It was as expected. Now we await the winners of Pakistan and Netherlands.

"The change for us in the event is that unlike at Islamabad in the 2005 event we likely run into France in the semis, we met Canada last time.

"On the basis of the rankings the matches between the number ones and twos of England and France will be close. On form we should be favourites to win the number three tie."

David Pearson

            [10] INDIA beat [9] WALES 3-0
         Ritwik Bhattacharya 3-0 David Evans        11/6, 13/11, 11/7 (38m)
                      Saurav Ghosal 3-1 Alex Gough                 12/14, 11/7, 11/3 rtd (50m)
                      Siddarth Suchde 2-1 Jethro Binns             11/8, 7/11, 11/2 (31m)

         [8] NETHERLANDS beat [7] PAKISTAN 3-0
        Dylan Bennett 3-1 Mansoor Zaman            14/16, 15/13, 11/7, 11/8 (49m)
                     Laurens Jan Anjema 3-0 Aamir Atlas Khan  11/3, 11/9, 11/4 (33m)
                     Piedro Schweertman 0-2 Farhan Mehboob   7/11, 7/11 (18m)

Last evening when Wales beat Holland, there was a little sadness in the Indian camp, for the hosts now had to face Wales and not Holland in the round of 16. India had beaten Holland at Islamabad in 2005 and fancied their chances again.

But today when Holland sent 7th seeds Pakistan crashing out of the medal round, the India camp’s thinking looked flawed. Wales had 'Dad’s Army' playing in the form of David Evans and Alex Gough and looked the easier option. As it turned out India’s youth prevailed and India sent Asian squash topsy turvy - the only other time India finished higher than Pakistan was in the inaugural event in 1967 when all of Pakistan’s professionals did not play and India were fifth and Pakistan sixth in the six-team event.

India, who were 11th at the last worlds in 2005, are now assured of their best finish ever, at least eighth, as they advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time. They next play top seeds Egypt who blanked Hong Kong 3-0.

Ritwik Bhattacharya, who has been hovering on the brink in the earlier matches, showed his best game against David Evans, drops from back, shots into the nick and timely crosscourts winning 3-0. The brinkmanship surfaced when he won the second game 13-11. He took his dad’s advice to calm nerves. Evans showed his class in the way he played for the crucial points.

Alex Gough had a lesson or two for Saurav Ghosal. But Saurav reads the game well and kept the ball to length. His positivity was seen in his going for his shots when he had a `let’ coming his way. This was a good sign and it kept up the rally which tired Gough in the first game, though the Welshman won it 14-12.

He needed taping for his thigh after that, courtesy of the Dutch physio. In the second Gough was still controlling the exchanges with his wealth of experience, deceptive shots, first-timers into the nick. But Saurav kept his focus and kept ramming home the advantage, not letting his opponent’s injury affect him. After losing the second Gough conceded the tie on the last point of the third game.

Siddharth Suchde made it 3-0 beating Jethro Binns 2-1 indicating that India may have won even if one of the earlier matches had not gone their way.

"I am absolutely delighted and this is great for Indian squash...the Squash Rackets Federation of India has done a magnificent job over the past few years and now we reap its reward. The boys played outstanding today and they all deserve this victory as they have toiled hard for the past few years."


Indian National Coach

MORE REACTION TO INDIA'S WIN

"The pressure was getting to me. So took my advice of my dad on what he did when he had pressure when flying planes for the Air Force. He told me to stay chilled out and that helped."



"I played my natural game. I had the back-up of a great match against Pakistan’s Aamir Atlas. I knew Gough was flagging physically but decided not to let up my game for he had the experience to wriggle out.’’ This wasn’t his best win of his career, Saurav said it was the win at the Asian Seniors over No 17 Shahid Zaman.



"I finally went to pieces, it had to happen."

"It’s an outstanding result for Indian squash.

"It was a test of Saurav’s temperament when Gough was injured. He drove the point home."

Dutch down Pakistan

Dylan Bennett got the Dutch off to a great start when he beat Mansoor Zaman at second string: "I kept control of the game, kept ball in play he made mistakes with his finishing shots."

Laurens Jan Anjema, who lost to Gough yesterday, bounced back to beat the Pakistan No 1 Aamir Atlas Khan. "I knew Aamir is the fastest player on the circuit, so I slowed the pace down, kept him to the back, used my height and dominated the T.’’

The Pakistani pair were reflective - "I was just not in the match, I don’t know how," said Aamir, while Mansoor said "My opponent played well. I was leading 6-1 in the third after being two-down. But I began hitting too many tins and that was that."

----- 17-29 Playoffs -----