Hong Kong's Alex Lau lost to Dewald Van Niekerk (P)hoto World Squash)
The quarter-finalists for the Squash World Cup have been confirmed in Chennai, India, after wins for Egypt, India and Malaysia and a frenetic draw for Hong Kong, China.
Top seeds Hong Kong, China, went into their tie against South Africa already assured of a spot in the last eight, but knew they still needed to perform to finish first in Pool A and avoid likely Pool B winners and No.2 seeds India in the last eight.
Things started poorly for the pre-tournament favourites when a fired up South African team took a deserved 1-0 lead through Damian Groenewald, who caught Henry Leung on the back foot and never let up to take the opener 7-1, 7-5, 7-2.
Tomota Ho then levelled for her side in a battling victory against Hayley Ward.
In the match of the day, Dewald Van Niekerk struck at sudden death match ball in game five of his clash with Alex Lau to restore South Africa’s lead and keep their hopes of topping the table alive.
It was Ka Yi Lee to the rescue for her team, though, as the 32-year-old dismantled Teagan Russell to clinch the draw for Hong Kong, China, conceding just four points throughout the match in her straight games win.
“Credit to South Africa, they really played well today,” Hong Kong, China, Head Coach Peter Genever said. “Groenewald was really sharp and caught Henry Leung cold which put more pressure on us. It was a tough one overall.”
On whether difficult encounters like this could help focus his side for the rest of the tournament, he said: “It can do; that’s the hope! We’ll have a look at how we had prepared for this one and see if there’s anything we didn’t do as well as we could have.”
Genever’s team will take on Switzerland in the quarter-finals. Although Switzerland were not in action today, they will have been watching the tie between hosts India and Brazil intently, hoping for a dominant win for India that would allow the Swiss to go through as Pool B runners up.
Fortunately for Switzerland, who held Brazil to a 2-2 draw yesterday, India were in an obliging mood, as Velavan Senthilkumar, Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh routed Pedro Mometto, Laura Silva and Diego Gobbi without dropping a game following Joshna Chinappa’s walkover against Bruna Marchesi Petrillo.
At the Indian Squash & Triathlon Academy, Malaysia proved too strong for Australia. In a 3-1 victory, Mohammad Syafiq Kamal, Aira Azman and Aifa Azman – the latter of whom made squash history by recording the Squash World Cup’s first ever triple bagel with three consecutive 7-0 wins – overcame Dylan Molinaro, Jessica van der Walt and Madison Lyon, with Joseph White Australia’s sole winner today as he defeated Ameeshenraj Chandaran.
Defending champions Egypt, meanwhile, impressed as they took out No.4 seeds Japan, with Ibrahim Elkabbani, Adam Hawal and Nardine Garas overcoming Tomotaka Endo, Ryunosuke Tsukue and Akari Midorikawa, while Nour Heikal lost out to Satomi Watanabe.
The quarter-finals will pit Hong Kong, China taking on Switzerland; Japan playing Malaysia; Egypt squaring off against Australia and South Africa playing hosts India.
RESULTS
Pool A
Hong Kong, China 2-2 South Africa: Henry Leung lost to Damian Groenewald 0-3: 1-7, 5-7, 2-7 (19m); Tomato Ho bt Hayley Ward 3-1: 7-2, 7-4, 6-7, 7-1 (22m); Alex Lau lost to Dewald Van Niekerk 2-3: 3-7, 7-3, 6-7, 7-3, 6-7 (45m); Ka Yi Lee bt Teagan Russell 3-0: 7-1, 7-2, 7-1 (11m)
Pool B
India 4-0 Brazil: Velavan Senthilkumar bt Pedro Mometto 3-0: 7-5, 7-2, 7-2 (21m); Anahat Singh bt Laura Silva 3-0: 7-4, 7-0, 7-2 (14m); Abhay Singh bt Diego Gobbi 3-0: 7-3, 7-1, 7-1 (19m); Joshna Chinappa w/o Bruna Marchesi Petrillo
Pool C
Malaysia 3-1 Australia: Mohammad Syafiq Kamal bt Dylan Molinaro 3-1: 7-4, 6-7, 7-6, 7-4; Aira Azman bt Jessica van der Walt 3-0: 7-2, 7-4, 7-3 (15m); Ameeshenraj Chandaran lost to Joseph White 1-3: 5-7, 5-7, 7-3, 4-7 (36m); Aifa Azman bt Madison Lyon 3-0: 7-0, 7-0, 7-0 (10m)
Pool D
Egypt 3-1 Japan: Ibrahim Elkabbani bt Tomotaka Endo 3-0: 7-4, 7-3, 7-2 (20m); Nour Heikal lost to Satomi Watanabe 2-3: 3-7, 7-2 7-5, 7-6, 1-7 (27m); Adam Hawal bt Ryunosuke Tsukue 3-0: 7-1, 7-4, 7-2 (16m); Nardine Garas bt Akari Midorikawa 3-0: 7-5, 7-5, 7-4 (16m)
