Dec 11: Indian team meekly surrenders 0-3 against top seed Egypt in their quarterfinal clash
Three-time World champion Amr Shabana alongwith compatriot Wael Elhendy proved too good against India as Egypt scored a convincing 3-0 win to enter the last four of the World team squash championship at the ICL academy courts here on Monday.
Playing in front of home crowd Indian players could not be able to pose any threat to Egyptian counterparts as they were far ahead of them in terms of standard of play. Ritwik Bhattacharya tried his hard in the opening rubber against Elhendy but his efforts went in vain, as Elhendy, who ranked eighth in the World eased past Ritwik 13-11 11-4 11-8.
Ritwik only provided some stiff challenge to his opponent in the first game forcing Wael El Hindi to win on extra points before losing it 13-11. Elhendy played some delicate drop shots at his will.
In the second tie, Saurav Ghoshal came up with all his shots against Amr Shabana but his painstaking efforts turned futile by Shabana, who has pocketed four titles in five weeks. Shabana comfortably got through 11-5, 11-8 and 11-9.
In the last inconsequential match of the pool Egypt’s Mohammed Abbas defeated Siddarth Suchde of India by 11-6 and 11-8 to make a clean sweep.
Meanwhile the SRFI announced a cash incentive of Rs 2.5 lakh to the Indian team for its historic entry into the quarterfinals.
Australia showed its prowess to outplay Canada (3-0), which did not play former star Jonathan Power, who was out due to sore back while top player Gregory Gaultier led France to score a 3-0 win over Malaysia. Defending champion England ended the Netherlands’ quest. Nick Mathew and James Willstrop came good for England.
In the semis line-up, England meets France while Australia takes on Egypt. India will now play for a place in the 5 to 8 positions.
QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
Egypt bt India 3-0 (Wael Elhendy bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-0 (3-1), 11-4, 11-8; Amr Shabana bt Saurav Ghosal 11-5, 11-8, 11-9; Mohammed Abbas bt Siddarth Suchde 11-6, 11-8); England bt Netherlands 3-0 (James Willstrop bt Tom Hoevenaars 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8; Nick Mathew bt Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 11-6, 11-9; Peter Barker bt Piedro Schweertman 11-4, 11-2); Australia bt Canada 3-0 (Stewart Boswell bt Mathew Giuffre 11-4, 11-8, 11-4; David Palmer bt Shahir Razik 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Cameron Pilley bt Shawn Delierre 11-3, 11-7); France bt Malaysia 3-0 (Thierry Lincou bt Ong Beng Hee 11-9, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0); Gregory Gaultier bt Mohd Azlan Bin Iskandar 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7; Renan Lavigne bt Mohd Asyra Bin Azan 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 11-5.)
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