HONG KONG UPSETS THE NETHERLANDS TO REACH QUARTERS

[Also: teams competition - final POOL Draw and results]

New Zealand gave Australia a scare before finally succombing 2 matches to 1. Photo 2006 © e-pics.

NEW ZEALAND: SO CLOSE
Host New Zealand was so close to an outstanding result over arch-rivals Australia, which would have made the 14th Prince world junior men’s squash championships in Palmerston North much more memorable than seemed possible.

The 13th seeded New Zealanders needed to upset the No.12 seeds Australia in a pool D tie at the SquashGym Palmerston North club to break in to the group chasing final placings of ninth to 12th in the teams’ championship.

It was on the verge of becoming a reality when New Zealand No.1 Evan Williams caught the Australians off-guard in beating Nathan Stevenson in four games, and No.3 Chris Lloyd was two games apiece against Rex Hedrick.

After winning the fourth Lloyd appeared to have the necessary momentum to finish the job. Instead he faded dramatically in losing the deciding fifth game 9-1. Even then the Kiwis were in the hunt when Josh Thom started the final match against Matt Reece by claiming the first game. It all went down hill from there though, and it was the green and gold wearing Australians that now play for ninth to 12th.

The New Zealanders now find themselves in a no-win position of having to play an arduous schedule of five matches over the last three days of the teams’ event to decide positions 13th to 18th.

The championships have been expertly run by organising chairman Grant Smith, and his key officials, drawing few complaints from the participating countries. It would have been appropriate had the New Zealand players been able to produce a performance to match that of the tournament committee.

It so very nearly occurred against Australia, who was not expecting New Zealand to be so competitive after it won the “test” series between the two countries 3-0 the previous month, resting its No.1 player Zac Alexander.

New Zealand national coach Dave Clarke complimented the efforts of Williams and Lloyd but said the group needed another year’s growth to be in a position to finish off matches like this.

“I can’t get too hard on the boys,” Clarke said. “Evan was very committed after a nervous start.The Australians probably expected to win that match, and Chris was very strong for a long time. In the last match Matt (Reece) was very consistent. He didn’t make many errors.”

After losing the first game Williams hung on in the second, finally taking it with his seventh game ball, and was largely in control after that, going on to win 3-9 9-5 9-3 9-6 in 50 minutes. Stevenson blasted the referee when he did not receive a let on the point that took Williams to matchball, and still uptight he hit his return of service out to concede defeat.
Hedrick played with composure when it mattered most in beating Lloyd 1-9 10-8 9-5 6-9 9-1 in 68 minutes, and Reece avenged his loss to Thom in last month’s test series in winning 5-9 9-6 9-1 9-2 in 54 minutes.

New Zealand put forth an all out effort against Australia. Photo 2006 © e-pics.

HONG KONG PROVIDES UNEXPECTED STRENGTH
Hong Kong produced the tie of the day in shading The Netherlands 2-1 in the final cluster of matches to clamber in to the quarterfinals at the loser’s expence. Max Lee provided Hong Kong with the perfect start after recovering from a two-game deficit to overcome Tom Hoenvenaars 4-9 4-9 9-3 9-5 9-2 in an hour.

Dutch No.3 Sander Kock then responded with a swift 9-3 9-2 9-1 win over Alan Tsang. However, the Hong Kong No.3 showed the necessary poise to beat Bastiaan Meulenbelt 9-3 9-6 10-8 in the deciding match to give the ninth seeds victory over the eighth.

Hong Kong’s deeds earned it a quarterfinal against the fourth seeds Malaysia, a winner of pool D.

The sixth seeds Germany made sure of playing in the quarterfinals in beating the 11th seeded Switzerland 3-0.In the first match referee, Peter Highsted, of New Zealand, created a stir when he called a conduct stroke against the German No.1 Simon Rosner for timewasting when he bounced the ball excessively as he prepared to serve. An upset German manager Barry Dodson immediately requested the presence of championship referee, Joss Urbahn, of New Zealand, and there were no future problems.

Though the tie had already been decided by the third match German No.2 Norman Junge was in no mood to allow his opponent Benjamin Fischer to win without a struggle. Afer losing the first two games, and close to being down matchball in the third Junge slogged away to win 9-10 2-9 10-8 9-6 9-0 in an hour.

CANADA ENDS WITH TOUGH QUARTER DRAW
Canada lost out to Malaysia in the battle to decide the top qualifier from pool D, going down 2-1, its No.1 Keith Pritchard being the only victor with a straight games defeat of Choong Kam Hing.

As a consequence Canada drew an infinitely tougher quarterfinal against the top seeded Egyptians, a winner of pool A. The other quarterfinals have No.3 seeds England, the pool C victor, meeting India, and the second seeds and defending champions Pakistan, top of pool B, strike Germany.

World Jr Men's Championships, North Palmerston NZ, TEAM POOL RESULTS DAY TWO:
[Complete Pool Draws/Results]

POOL 1:
Ramy Ashour [1] (EGY) beat Bastiaan Meulenbelt(NED)    9-0 9-0 9-2 [14mins]
Omar Mosaad [3] (EGY) beat Sander Kock [17-32] (NED)    9-1 9-4 10-8 [26mins]
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda [5-8] (EGY) beat Frank Hartkoren(NED)    9-4 9-1 9-1 [21mins]

Max Lee [9-16] (HKG) beat Pyry Poikolainen [17-32] (FIN)    9-7 9-4 9-0 [22mins]
Leo Au(HKG) beat Karri Salonen(FIN)    9-0 9-1 9-0 [15mins]
Fung Ji Yang(HKG) beat Aatos Mannroos(FIN)    9-1 9-1 9-1 [25mins]

Max Lee [9-16] (HKG) beat Tom Hoevenaars [17-32] (NED)    4-9 4-9 9-3 9-5 9-2 [60mins]
Leo Au(HKG) beat Bastiaan Meulenbelt(NED)    9-3 9-6 10-8 [57mins]
Sander Kock [17-32] (NED) beat Alan Tsang(HKG)    9-3 9-2 9-1 [25mins]

Yuuta Fukui(JPN) beat Pyry Poikolainen [17-32] (FIN)    5-9 9-1 9-1 9-5 [24mins]
Bumpei Kawano(JPN) beat Petteri Siren(FIN)    9-0 9-0 9-1 [19mins]
Shinnosuke Tsukue(JPN) beat Aatos Mannroos(FIN)    9-3 9-4 9-7 [28mins]

Sandeep Jangra [9-16] (IND) beat Richard Colburn(RSA)    9-7 9-5 9-2 [35mins]
Harinder Pal Sandhu [17-32] (IND) beat Jason Cole Niven(RSA)    9-3 7-9 9-5 9-7 [68mins]
Rudi Willemse(RSA) beat Naresh Kumar(IND)    5-9 9-1 9-5 9-4 [55mins]

Rory Byrne [17-32] (IRL) beat Deepesh Patel(ZIM)    9-4 9-5 9-6 [36mins]
Conor O'Hare(IRL) beat Ahmed Hassan(ZIM)    9-2 9-6 7-9 9-2 [29mins]
Chris O'Kane(IRL) beat Ainsley Gannaway(ZIM)    9-1 9-0 9-2 [14mins]

Aamir Atlas Khan [2] (PAK) beat Sandeep Jangra [9-16] (IND)    9-0 9-0 9-4 [14mins]
Yasir Butt [5-8] (PAK) beat Naresh Kumar(IND)    9-2 9-0 9-0 [12mins]
Bilal Zaman [9-16] (PAK) beat Vikram Malhotra(IND)    9-6 9-0 9-8 [29mins]

Rory Byrne [17-32] (IRL) beat Richard Colburn(RSA)    7-9 9-7 1-9 9-3 9-1 [58mins]
Richard Dodd(RSA) beat Chris O'Kane(IRL)    9-1 7-9 9-5 9-5 [61mins]
Rudi Willemse (RSA) beat Conor O’Hare (IRL) 7-9 9-0 9-3 9-3

Joe Lee [9-16] (ENG) beat Trevor McGuinness [17-32] (USA)    9-3 9-5 9-0 [30mins]
James Snell [17-32] (ENG) beat Reed Endresen(USA)    9-3 9-1 9-4 [33mins]
Adrian Waller(ENG) beat Todd Harrity(USA)    9-1 9-3 9-2 [33mins]

Simon Rˆsner [4] (GER) beat Nicolas Mueller [9-16] (SUI)    9-6 9-5 9-5 [37mins]
Norman Junge(GER) beat Benjamin Fischer(SUI)    9-10 2-9 10-8 9-6 9-0 [60mins]
Florian Silbernagl(GER) beat Reiko Peter(SUI)    9-0 9-7 9-0 [27mins]

Keith Pritchard [9-16] (CAN) beat Choong Kam Hing [17-32] (MAS)    9-4 9-5 9-6 [30mins]
Ivan Yuen(MAS) beat David Letourneau [17-32] (CAN)    10-8 9-4 9-1 [36mins]
Muhd Asyraf Azan [9-16] (MAS) beat Andrew McDougall [17-32] (CAN)    9-2 10-8 9-0 [36mins]

Evan Williams [9-16] (NZL) beat Nathan Stevenson [17-32] (AUS)    3-9 9-3 9-5 9-6 [50mins]
Matt Reece [17-32] (AUS) beat Josh Thom(NZL)    5-9 9-6 9-1 9-2 [54mins]
Rex Hedrick(AUS) beat Christopher Lloyd(NZL)    1-9 10-8 9-5 6-9 9-1 [68mins]