Malaysia tops England for Third

[Also: teams competition MEDAL DRAW]

EXCITING FINAL ENDS WITH EGYPT RAZOR-THIN MARGIN OF VICTORY

Mehboob beat Momen for Pakistan's sole point as Egypt wrested the world team title from Pakistan. (photo © 2006 e-Pics)

Visions of No.1 seeds Egypt winning the 14th Prince world junior men's squash teams' title without too much drama evaporated on a night of high tension at Palmerston North's Arena Manawatu.

Ramy Ashour (in white) had his hands full in an all-out battle with Aamir Atlas Khan. (photo © 2006 e-Pics)

The second seeded Pakistan was in no mood to meekly surrender its hold on the winners' trophy, and had its No.2 Yasir Ali Butt held his nerve in the deciding third match it would have won for a third successive time.

Instead it was Egypt's Omar Mossad Abozeid who showed the greater poise when it counted most even with the boisterous Pakistani supporters a bit off-putting. With remarkable resolve he negotiated his way past a number of match balls to Butt from 8-5 to finally put the crowd out of its agony with a 9-4 0-9 4-9 9-6 10-8 victory in 90 minutes.

Egypt coach Amir Wagih was a mixture of high delight and huge relief at the 2-1 outcome, a result that seemed increasingly unlikely as a ponderous Abozeid made numerous errors in the middle stages and Butt grew in confidence to play his best squash of the tournament.

"Omar has a very good temperament. That and having played a lot in PSA tournaments served him well," Wagih said. "He had no concentration for a while. I was a bit worried, and the support of the Pakistanis was getting to him.

Momen vs Mehboob (Mehboob won for Pakistan 3-1) . (photo © 2006 e-Pics)

"He was very hungry to win, and it showed in the end. It's an unbelievable result. We wanted it so badly after not having won the teams for 12 years. It leaves a nice taste.
"It's a dream for me. It's one of the best moments of my life. I've now won seven senior and junior titles as Egyptian coach, and this one is very special."

It is just Egypt's second title after appearing in six junior men's finals. It won in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1994, and since then it had lost to England three times in a row, and to Pakistan 2-1 in Islamabad two years ago.

On that occasion Abozeid lost to left-handed shotmaker Farhan Mehboob, who was again victorious in Palmerston, a little unexpectedly beating Tarek Momen in the second match, between the No.3s, 9-6 4-9 9-6 9-5 in 65 minutes to level the contest.

UNTIMELY CRAMPS FOR KHAN
Double world junior champion Ramy Ashour gave Egypt the initial advantage in beating Aamir Atlas Khan 9-2 9-7 5-9 10-8 in 56 minutes.

However, as the score suggests it was a surprisingly spirited battle, and was an early taste of what was about to unfold. The match ended controversially, when Khan had a conduct stroke awarded against him by Irish referee Jack Allen for time-wasting. The decision drew a mixed reception from the crowd but Khan agreed with it, saying his stomach cramps were too severe for him to continue.

Though the skills that have taken Ashour to No.20 on the world professional circuit were all to apparent he was rattled at times, and he had to summon all his strengths to win. Allen unsettled him when he penalised him several times for foot-faulting when serving.
"Aamir played so well, and I was feeling physically and mentally drained," Ashour said. "I had nothing left. Aamir had nothing to lose, and I knew he would take a game off me."

After winning the first game Ashour fell behind 7-2 in the second, and he had to dig deep to win it. Having lost the third the pressure intensified in the fourth. He had match ball at 8-5 but Khan fought back to 8-all before the cramps finished him off.

MALAYSIA GETS IMPORTANT WIN TO FINISH THIRD

England fell to fourth with a loss to Malaysia . (photo © 2006 e-Pics)

Malaysia emphasised its rise in stature with a 2-1 victory over one of squash's traditional powers, England, in the playoff for third and fourth.

No.1 Tom Pashley's three-game win for England over Elvinn Keo was overtaken by Malaysia taking of the second and third matches.

Muhammad Asyraf Azan beat James Snell 2-9 9-6 5-9 9-4 9-6 in 67 minutes, and Ivan Luen subdued Joe Lee 9-5 9-5 3-9 9-4 in 62 minutes.

Malaysia's Pakistani coach Ajaz Azmat said he had hoped to finish in the top four, and to topple the No.3 seeds England was a reward for the players' thorough preparation.

"We didn't go too hard in the semifinal against Pakistan to leave us something for when we played England," Azmat said. "I was looking for us to win at Nos. 2 and 3, with Ivan having beaten Lee in the German junior event."

Azmat said Malaysian squash benefitted from plenty of Government money, and a well-organised coaching network.

SILBERNAGL HEROICS BOOST GERMANY

Malaysia took the upper hand against England, 2-1. (photo © 2006 e-Pics)

Germany equalled its best result at a junior men's world championship in finishing fifth after beating India 2-0, the third match not being played.

German No.1 Simon Rosner won his match easily but No.3 Florian Silbernagl was in big trouble against Naresh Kumar, losing the first two games.

However, he dug in to secure the next two but trailing 3-6 in the fifth he damaged an already strained right leg after the pair collided.

There was a lengthy delay while Silbernagl received treatment, and it all looked bad for him when Kumar had matchball. Three times the nervous Indian served for the match without being able to clinch it, and Silbernagl kept the ball in play sufficently well to win 7-9 1-9 9-2 9-4 10-8.

USA's Reed Endreesen in Zimbabwe match. USA finished 13th . (photo © 2006 Chris Smith)

Canada's bid to improve on its eighth placing in Islamabad founded when it was beaten for seventh 2-1 by Hong Kong. For once the ever-reliable Canadian No.1 Keith Pritchard lost in a tight four-game match, and though Andrew McDougall won comfortably David Letourneau lost the last match in three.

"It's a bit disappointing," said Canadian manager Arthur Hough. "Keith finally ran out of gas. He's done us proud. We couldn't make asked for much more."

The United States was in buoyant mood in overwhelming Ireland 3-0 in its final tie to finish 13th, one place above its seeding. In the absence of a clapped out Mark Froot, Trevor McGuinness, Todd Harrity and Reed Endresen won their matches in regulation games to give their team victory in the group involving the teams chasing positions 13th to 18th.

FINAL TEAM WORLD PLACEMENTS:

1. Egypt
2. Pakistan
3. Malaysia
4. England
5. Germany
6. India
7. Hong Kong
8. Canada
9. Netherlands
10. Australia
11. South Africa
12. Switzerland
13. USA
14. Ireland
15. New Zealand
16. Japan
17. Finland
18. Zimbabwe

14th WORLD JUNIOR MENS CHAMPIONSHIPS, TEAMS
FINAL RESULTS:
EGYPT 2 - PAKISTAN 1 (scores to be confirmed)
Ramy Ashour [1] (EGY) beat Aamir Atlas Khan [2] (PAK)    9-2 9-7 5-9 10-8 [56mins]
Farhan Mehboob [5-8] (PAK) beat Tarek Momen [5-8] (EGY)    9-6 4-9 9-6 9-5 [65mins]
Omar Mosaad [3] (EGY) beat Yasir Butt [5-8] (PAK)    9-4 0-9 4-9 9-5 10-8 [70min]

THIRD PLACE PLAYOFF:
MALAYSIA 2 - ENGLAND 1
Tom Pashley [17-32] (ENG) beat Elvinn Keo(MAS)    9-1 9-4 9-3 [30mins]
Ivan Yuen(MAS) beat Joe Lee [9-16] (ENG)    9-5 9-5 3-9 9-4 [62mins]
Muhd Asyraf Azan [9-16] (MAS) beat James Snell [17-32] (ENG)    2-9 9-6 5-9 9-4 9-6 [67mins]

FIFTH PLACE PLAYOFF:
GERMANY 3 - INDIA 0
Simon Rösner [4] (GER) beat Sandeep Jangra [9-16] (IND)    9-2 9-0 9-0 [19mins]
Norman Junge(GER) vs Harinder Pal Sandhu [17-32] (IND)    Match Withdrawn
Florian Silbernagl(GER) beat Naresh Kumar(IND)    7-9 1-9 9-2 9-4 10-8 [69mins]

SEVENTH PLACE PLAYOFF:
HONG KONG 2 - CANADA 1
Max Lee [9-16] (HKG) beat Keith Pritchard [9-16] (CAN)    7-9 9-6 10-9 9-6 [52mins]
Leo Au(HKG) beat David Letourneau [17-32] (CAN)    9-1 9-7 10-8 [36mins]
Andrew McDougall [17-32] (CAN) beat Fung Ji Yang(HKG)    9-5 9-3 9-0 [22mins]

NINTH-TWELFTH ROUND ROBIN PLACEMENTS: [Round Robin details]
NETHERLANDS 2 - SOUTH AFRICA 1
Richard Colburn(RSA) beat Tom Hoevenaars [17-32] (NED)    9-3 10-9 9-7 [45mins]
Bastiaan Meulenbelt(NED) beat Jason Cole Niven(RSA)    7-9 9-5 9-7 9-7 [54mins]
Sander Kock [17-32] (NED) beat Richard Dodd(RSA)    5-9 9-7 9-6 9-0 [50mins]

AUSTRIA 2 - SWITZERLAND 1
Nicolas Mueller [9-16] (SUI) beat Zac Alexander(AUS)    9-3 9-3 9-3 [26mins]
Nathan Stevenson [17-32] (AUS) beat Benjamin Fischer(SUI)    9-1 10-8 9-0 [32mins]
Rex Hedrick(AUS) beat Livio Catenazzi(SUI)    1-9 9-4 9-1 9-0 [37mins]

13TH - 18TH PLACEMENTS: [Round Robin details]
USA 3 - IRELAND 0
Trevor McGuinness [17-32] (USA) beat Rory Byrne [17-32] (IRL)    9-0 9-7 9-0 [18mins]
Reed Endresen(USA) beat Conor O'Hare(IRL)    9-6 9-0 9-1 [17mins]
Todd Harrity(USA) beat Chris O'Kane(IRL)    9-2 9-1 9-6 [36mins]

NEW ZEALAND 2 - JAPAN 1
Evan Williams [9-16] (NZL) beat Yuuta Fukui(JPN)    9-6 9-4 9-4 [31mins]
Josh Thom(NZL) beat Bumpei Kawano(JPN)    10-8 9-2 7-9 9-4 [47mins]
Shinnosuke Tsukue(JPN) beat Lui Syder(NZL)    9-3 10-9 9-5 [37mins]

FINLAND 3 - ZIMBABWE 0
Pyry Poikolainen [17-32] (FIN) beat Deepesh Patel(ZIM)    9-5 9-3 9-7 [37mins]
Ahmed Hassan(ZIM) beat Petteri Siren(FIN)    9-1 9-3 10-8 [23mins]
Aatos Mannroos(FIN) beat Ainsley Gannaway(ZIM)    9-4 10-8 9-3 [25mins]