Hong Kong topple No.8 seeds USA
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad International Correspondent
Today’s second day of Pool play in the WSF Men’s World Junior Team Squash Championship in India featured intense action as the 24 teams battled for the top two places in the eight pools to ensure a place in the last 16 knockout stage in Chennai.
Favourites Egypt, hosts India and former champions England were resting, having been successful in two ties on day one.
The day’s biggest surprise came in Pool D where 18th seeds Germany took advantage of a tired France after the 13th seeds narrowly went down to Malaysia, the No.4 seeds, 2-1 in the morning session.
With the evening tie tied after the first two matches, Germany’s Nils Schwab held his nerve in the decider after French opponent Adrien Douillard drew level from 2-0 down. Second string Schwab went on to clinch the win 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 3-11, 11-7 to take the underdogs through to the last 16 round – where they face third seeds England.
Hong Kong China had two ties to contend with in Pool H – and the ninth seeds started off well by upsetting USA, the No.8 seeds, 3-0 before clinching unexpected supremacy in the pool by seeing off Finland, the 21st seeds, 3-0.Â
WSF World Junior Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
Final qualifying rounds – Pool A:
[16] AUSTRALIA bt [20] SINGAPORE 3/0
Jack Hudson bt Kieren Tan 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 (35m)
Nicholas Calvert bt Aaron Liang 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (35m)
Maaz Khatri bt Matthew Wong Yu Heng 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 (20m)
Final positions: 1 Egypt, 2 Australia, 3 Singapore
Pool B:
[2] CANADA bt [15] ARGENTINA 2/1
George Crowne bt Dylan Tymkiw 7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-4 (52m)
Julien Gosset lost to Miguel Gonzalo Pujol 7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-2, 4-11 (61m)
James Flynn bt JeremÃas Azaña 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 (34m)
[15] ARGENTINA bt [17] SCOTLAND 2/1
Dylan Tymkiw lost to John Meehan 11-8, 6-11, 3-11, 2-11 (40m)
Miguel Gonzalo Pujol bt Alasdair Prott 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 (47m)
JeremÃas Azaña bt Christopher Murphy 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 13-15, 11-3 (55m)
Final positions: 1 Canada, 2 Argentina, 3 Scotland
Pool C:
[14] IRELAND bt [19] SOUTH AFRICA 2/1
Scott Gillanders bt Tristen Worth 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 (62m)
Conor Moran bt Mikael Ismail 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (30m)
Sam Buckley lost to Murray Schepers 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11 (53m)
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Ireland, 3 South Africa
Pool D:
[4] MALAYSIA bt [13] FRANCE 2/1
Shahrul Izham Nurhaqiem bt Adrien Douillard 11-13, 9-11, 11-2, 14-12, 11-7 (74m)
Darren Rahul Pragasam bt Edwin Clain 12-10, 1-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5 (45m)
Siow Yee Xian lost to Toufik Mekhalfi 10-12, 11-2, 11-7, 11-13, 10-12 (60m)
[18] GERMANY bt [13] FRANCE 2/1
Maximillian Baum bt Manuel Paquemar 11-8, 6-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9 (66m)
Abdel-Rahman Ghait lost to Edwin Clain 4-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-13 (52m)
Nils Schwab bt Adrien Douillard 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 3-11, 11-7 (50m)
Final positions: 1 Malaysia, 2 Germany, 3 France
Pool E:
[12] SWITZERLAND bt [23] SAUDI ARABIA 3/0
Miguel Mathis bt Osama Alotaibi 11-1, 11-2, 11-5 (15m)
Yannick Wilhelmi bt Mohammad Almwled 11-5, 11-2, 11-2 (19m)
Nils Roesch bt Abdulmajeed Boureggah 11-3, 11-2, 11-1 (19m)
Final positions: 1 India, 2 Switzerland, 3 Saudi Arabia
Pool F:
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [11] PAKISTAN 2/1
Marek Panacek lost to Haris Qasim 5-11, 6-11, 6-11 (37m)
Viktor Byrtus bt Abbas Zeb 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9 (50m)
Ondrej Vorlicek bt Muhammad Uzair 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4 (30m)
[11] PAKISTAN bt [24] ZIMBABWE 3/0
Haris Qasim bt Aedan Martin 11-2, 11-2, 11-5 (21m)
Abbas Zeb bt Tayne Turnock 11-7, 11-2, 11-5 (25m)
Muhammad Uzair bt Ethan Alfalfa Porter 13-11, 11-8, 11-7 (26m)
Final positions: 1 Czech Republic, 2 Pakistan, 3 Zimbabwe
Pool G:
[10] NEW ZEALAND bt [22] QATAR 3/0
Anthony Lepper bt Ahmad Al-Muraikhi 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 (17m)
Matthew Lucente bt Hamad Al-Amri 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (30m)
Temwa Chileshe bt Ibrahim Darwish 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (23m)
Final positions: 1 New Zealand, 2 Colombia, 3 Qatar
Pool H:
[9] HONG KONG CHINA bt [8] USA 3/0
Chan Chi Ho Russell bt Ayush Menon 11-4, 14-12, 13-11 (39m)
Chung Yat Long bt Daelum Mawji 11-8, 11-2, 11-5 (32m)
Ho Ka Hei bt Tiber Worth 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (35m)
[9] HONG KONG CHINA bt [21] FINLAND 3/0
To Wai Lok bt Ville Koskinen 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (19m)
Chung Yat Long bt Samuli Niskala 7-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (32m)
Ho Ka Hei bt Elias Korhonen 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9 (35m)
Final positions: 1 Hong Kong China, 2 USA, 3 Finland
Last 16 round line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [15] ARGENTINA
[9] HONG KONG CHINA v [7] COLOMBIA
[4] MALAYSIA v [14] IRELAND
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC v [12] SWITZERLAND
[5] INDIA v [11] PAKISTAN
[3] ENGLAND v [18] GERMANY
[10] NEW ZEALAND v [8] USA
[2] CANADA v [16] AUSTRALIA
Follow the live action via the official website www.wsfworldjuniors.com
Images courtesy of #wsfworldjuniorsÂ