Shocks in Namibia as Malaysia and Spain storm into semi finals
Malaysia produced a shock 2/1 win over England in the quarter-finals of the WSF Men’s World Junior Team Squash Championship at the Wanderers Sports Club in the Namibia capital Windhoek to deny the four-time champions a last four finish for the first time in the 34-year history of the biennial World Squash Federation championships.
England, the only nation to have reached at least the semi-finals in every championship since the inaugural competition in 1980, were the event’s third seeds.
George Parker put England ahead with a 3/1 win over Mohd Syafiq Kamal – but Eain Yow Ng drew level for the fifth seeds when he beat Lyell Fuller (PICTURED ABOVE) 14-12, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9 in 68 minutes.
Malaysia then celebrated a sensational triumph when 17-year-old Darren Chan defeated Patrick Rooney 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 in 41 minutes.
Malaysia, who finished in a best-ever third place in 2006, now face Pakistan for a place in the final. Second seeds Pakistan, champions in 2008, eased to a 2/0 win over No7 seeds Finland.
There was a further significant quarter-final upset when Spain beat fourth seeds India 2/1. After the first two matches were shared, it was again the battle between the teams’ third strings that settled the tie – when Barcelona-based 18-year-old Bernat Jaume defeated Indian Vijay Meena 11-7, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7 in 38 minutes to seal Spain’s victory.
Spain, the sixth seeds who finished in 20th place in their last appearance in the championship and recorded a best-ever fifth place finish in 1998, will now face Egypt in the semi-finals.
Favourites and defending champions Egypt scored a resounding 3/0 win over 8th seeds Ireland.
Quarter-finals:
[1] EGYPT bt [8] IRELAND 3/0
Omar Elatmas bt Michael Craig 11-9, 11-4, 11-3 (37m)
Youssef Aboul-Makarim bt David Ryan 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (30m)
Karim El Hammamy bt Oisin Logan 11-5, 5-11, 11-9
[6] SPAIN bt [4] INDIA 2/1
Edmon Lopez Moller lost to Kush Kumar 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 6-11 (73m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu bt Madhav Dhingra 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (31m)
Bernat Jaume bt Vijay Meena 11-7, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7 (38m)
[5] MALAYSIA bt [3] ENGLAND 2/1
Mohd Syafiq Kamal lost to George Parker 7-11, 12-10, 3-11, 9-11 (46m)
Eain Yow Ng bt Lyell Fuller 14-12, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9 (68m)
Darren Chan bt Patrick Rooney 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (41m)
[2] PAKISTAN bt [7] FINLAND 2/0
Tayyab Aslam bt Jami Aijanen 12-10, 11-7, 11-6 (30m)
Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari bt Kristian Rautiainen 11-4, 11-9, 11-8 (41m)
SEMI FINAL LINE UPS
1] EGYPT v [6] SPAIN
[2] PAKISTAN v [5] MALAYSIA
5th – 8th place play-offs:
[4] INDIA v [8] IRELAND
[3] ENGLAND v [7] FINLAND
9th – 12th place play-offs:
[13/15] FRANCE v [11] ISRAEL
[9] COLOMBIA v [12] USA
13th – 16th place play-offs:
[13/15] ARGENTINA v [16/18] KUWAIT
[10] CANADA v [19/21] SWEDEN
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