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USA
and Australia go 3-0
(
Martin Bronstein, Squashtalk reporter on the scene
in Penang's Squash Centre.
[also:
Main draw finals]
All content © 2001 Squashtalk
by Martin Bronstein, Penang,
22 July 2001 (updated)
All content
© 2001 Squashtalk. Photos
© 2001 : Ho Kah Yeow for SquashTalk
DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY
After the glamour of the individual tournament, the sparkling opening ceremony
and fantastic laser light show in the arena, the players now get to the really
nitty gritty of 
the
team championship. Despite a greyish Sunday morning the US team turned up
scrubbed clean and all with matching Princess Leila hairdos. "Starwars and
Stripes" was Manager Aiden Harrisons quote of the day. (Among other things,
his juniors are looking to nab the best dressed award).
The number ones played first and Michelle Quibell (wasn't that a Beatles song?) duly polished off Karen Lau, the Hong Kong number one, in three straight. And easy 9-0 first game was not an indication of what was to come: Lau showed some fighting spirit in the second she fought back from a 1-6 deficit to lead 6-7. Nobody on the American bench looked particularly worried and Quibell calmly got it back to win 9-7 and then cleaned up with a 9-4 third game.
THE DEBUTANTE
Kate Rapisardi made her debut for the US, playing at three, and showed
perfect consistency in winning 9-4, 9-4, 9-4 against Connie Choi. She
didn't look nervous but said she was but just concentrated on keeping
to a basic game "and keeping it neat." Kate showed admirable composure
for a 16 year old and Aiden Harrison thought her performance
"Great. She kept to her game plan even though she was under pressure. Kate is from New York City and plays at the Casino Heights club where she trains under New Zealander Mark Devoy. Ironically Kate was knocked out in the first round of the individual by New Zealander Kylie Lindsay, one of Devoy's former pupils. She got a little pride back by getting to the semis of the consolation plate.
POINT TO BE MADE
Amy Gross, the US number two from Philadelphia wants to prove a point
this week. Still smarting from her loss to Alison Waters in the third
round of the individual, she is determined to keep a clean sheet. Gross,
a lefty, smacks the ball well although she did tend to smack it to Frances
Ho's forehand at times when the left back corner would have been a better
option. She took the rubber 9-3, 9-5, 9-1 to complete her team's solid
start.
Aiden Harrison was satisfied with the performance as a whole but knows full well that the crunch will come at 14:00hrs on Tuesday when they play their final pool match against Australia. If Australia win, the US will have to play one of the top three teams in the quarter-finals. And easier route will be to win Pool D which will match them against a second place team from the top three pools. Australia beat Ireland 3/0 and will almost certainly do the same to Hong Kong.
EGYPT AILS
If Egypt wins Pool C as expected, they may not be that strong in the quarters.
They claimed two of their nominated players were sick and wanted to substitute
them but the committee allowed only one substitution, Sara Badr for Nadine
Bahgat. The doctors found nothing wrong with the other player and refused
substitution.
…BUT EGYPT WINS
Egypt Opened their campaign against Switzerland, who, in Manuela Zehnder,
has a potential top ten senior. Zehnder puts me in mind of Jonathon Power
in her speed and determination to get to every ball.She also has a pretty
good array of shots and a very good squash brain. She gave Omenya Abdel Kawy
all sorts of problems and took a game off her, the only player other Nicol
David to achieve that distinction in Penang.
Kawy ran away with the first two games but suddenly found herself trailing in the third. Both players were displaying excellent length and width, the only difference was that Kawy's weight of shot was better, allowing her balls to die in the back corners. Zehnder won that third game 7-9 and there was a definite look of fatigue about Kawy. It was confirmed in the fourth as Zehnder took a 4-0 leader and then 6-4, but Kawy's shrewd shot distribution started to take its toll on the Swiss girls legs. She still did not give up but Kawy was now hitting winners for which there was no answer and she took the game 9-6. Zehnder is 18 and intends to do three more years of schooling before joining the pro circuit. Those are three years that may stop her becoming a top three player.
SUBSTITUTE WINS WITH EASE
Sara Badr showed that she was not a bad number three when she took out
Corinne Scarlato for the loss of point to ensure victory, but Scarlato's sister
Melanie had a much better time at number two, pushing an error prone Amena
El Tarabolsy pushing to four games. AT 16 years old, Tarabolsy is two years
older than Badr and one year older than Kawy….surely the only time the average
age of a team in the world championships has been fifteen. In two years time
in Egypt, the host country will sweep the board.
NICOL BACK AT WORK
Double world champ Nicol David was not given a day off when Malaysia played
Canada. She jumped right into to beat Jacqui inward for three points, while
the number three Teng Oolean did almost as well to beat Anne Christine Lajoie
for nine points. Tricia Chuah, who has been given all sorts of hell in the
local press for her collapse against Kawy in the semis, was still not working
on all cylinders, which made for a nice tussle against Ruchika Kumar, the
Canadian number two. Kumar is a good player, but needs more accuracy and court
sense to make her really good.
After tying the match at 9-6, 6-9, there was a distinct possibility of an upset which would have been dreadful for Chuah. But she won the third 9-6 and battled hard enough to rebuff the Kumar challenge and from 4-all in the fourth went on to win.
POOL RESULTS SUNDAY JULY 22
Playing order: 1-3-2.
POOL A
MALAYSIA 3 CANADA 0
Nicol David bt Jacqui Inward 9-0, 9-1, 9-2. Teng Oolean bt Anne Christine
Lajoie 9-0, 9-4, 9-5. Tricia Chuah bt Ruchika Kumar 9-6, 6-9, 9-6, 9-5.
POOL B
INDIA 2 NETHERLANDS 1
Joshna Chinappa bt Milja Dorenbos 9-3, 9-5, 9-3. Rachita Vora lost to Orla
Noom 6-9, 0-9, 3-9. Vaidehi reddy bt Margriet Huisman 9-6, 9-1, 9-2
POOL C
EGYPT 3 SWITZERLAND 0
Omneya Abdel Kawy bt Manuela Zehnder 9-3, 9-2, 7-9, 9-6. Sara Bardr bt Corinne
Scarlato 9-0, 9-0, 9-1. Amena El Tarabolsy bt Melanie Scarlato 9-1, 4-9, 9-4,
9-4.
GERMANY 3 SINGAPORE 0
Kathrin Rohrmuller bt Janice Wong 9-1, 9-4, 9-2. Jessica Reese bt Kar Yan
Koh 9-2, 9-2, 9-0 Sandra Ziemelis bt Pei Qi Tan 9-7, 9-2, 9-5.
POOL D
AUSTRALIA 3 IRELAND 0
Lisa Camilleri bt Siobhan Parker 9-3, 9-0,9-0. Georgina Davis bt Zoe Barr
9-0, 9-7, 9-7. Amelia Pittock bt Tanya Owens 9-3, 9-0, 9-1.
USA 3 HONG KONG 0
Michelle Quibell bt Karen Lau 9-0, 9-7, 9-4. Kate Rapisardo bt Connie
Choi 9-4, 9-4, 9-4. Amy Gross bt Frances Ho 9-3, 9-5, 9-1.
COLLEGE USA
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