Four teams to battle for top spots on final day of Squash World Cup Pool Stage

14 June 2023

Egypt, Malaysia, India and Japan will battle it out to decide who finishes top of each pool on the final day of the SDAT WSF Squash World Cup Pool Stage tomorrow after all four continued their winning streaks at Chennai’s Express Avenue Mall.

With only the top two sides from the two pools progressing, no one could afford a mistake today in their bids to reach the semi finals of the Squash World Cup, which has returned after a 12-year absence.

In Pool A, top seeds and pre-tournament favourites Egypt secured their second 4-0 win in quick succession as they brushed aside No.8 seeds Colombia.

19-year-old Kenzy Ayman got the rout underway with a 15-minute 3-0 win against Catalina Pelaez, with Aly Abou Eleinen repeating the scoreline against Felipe Tovar.

Although their concentration briefly slipped, Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Karim El Hammamy were able to complete the win with 3-1 victories over Laura Tovar and Alfonso Marroquín.

“In the first game, I was really nervous at the beginning [because] I was the first to play but I really enjoyed it!” Ayman said afterwards.

Egypt’s opponents tomorrow, No.4 seeds Malaysia, came through a tense and testing encounter with No.5 seeds Australia, with Sai Hung Ong’s fourth-match victory guaranteeing his side at least second place.

Ong’s win – a 3-0 victory over Nicholas Calvert – came with the tie in the balance, with Malaysia defending a 2-1 lead after wins for Xin Ying Yee and Aira Azman over Alex Haydon and Jessica Turnbull, either side of a defeat for Darren Pragasam to Joseph White.

In Pool B, there will be a race for top spot between India and Japan, after they beat South Africa and Hong Kong, China.

The hosts were led well in their opening match by Tanvi Khanna, who put her side in front with a 3-1 win over Hayley Ward, before Saurav Ghosal – who was praised by the crowd for his sportsmanship after telling the referee a decision in his favour was incorrect – doubled the lead with a straight-games victory against Dewald van Niekerk.

Joshna Chinappa put the contest beyond all doubt with a 3-1 win in the fourth match, before Abhay Singh closed out with a 3-1 win of his ownin the last clash of the day.

“I want to be the best there is and the best there ever was, but I want to do it in the right way so that I’m remembered in the right way,” Ghosal said afterwards.

India’s opponents, Japan, were in action in the first tie of the day as they came back from one match down to overcome No.6 seeds Hong Kong, China 3-1 thanks to victories for Ryunosuke Tsukue, Satomi Watanabe and Tomotaka Endo.

The pool stage of the SDAT WSF Squash World Cup concludes tomorrow (15 June), with play beginning at 10:30 (GMT+5:30) at Express Avenue Mall, Chennai.

All the action is being streamed live on the Olympic Channel and worldsquash.tv (worldwide) and JioCinema (India only).

Results: SDAT WSF Squash World Cup – Pool A

[1] Egypt 4-0 [8] Colombia

Kenzy Ayman beat Catalina Pelaez 3-0: 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (15m)

Aly Abou Eleinen beat Felipe Tovar 3-0: 7-5, 7-2, 7-2 (18m)

Fayrouz Aboelkheir beat Laura Tovar 3-1: 7-3, 7-4, 5-7, 7-2 (20m)

Karim El Hammamy beat Alfonso Marroquín 3-1: 7-5, 7-3, 4-7, 7-4 (24m)

[4] Malaysia 3-1 [5] Australia

Xin Ying Yee beat Alex Haydon 3-1: 5-7, 7-4, 7-2, 7-4 (20m)

Darren Pragasam lost to Joseph White 0-3: 2-7, 6-7, 1-7 (19m)

Aira Azman beat Jessica Turnbull 3-1: 7-6, 7-2, 6-7, 7-1 (21m)

Sai Hung Ong beat Nicholas Calvert 3-0: 7-6, 7-1, 7-5 (25m)