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Canada falters as Jonathon Limps
by Louis Daignault Oct 26, 2001 © 2001 Squashtalk
[last update was 26-oct-01 ]

2001 SquashTalk coverage will feature regular Canada Team updates from Louis Daignault

CANADA OUT OF MEDAL HUNT AT WORLD TEAM SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS

MELBOURNE, Australia—Canada lost 2-1 to defending champion Egypt in quarter final action Friday at the world team squash championships and can no longer finish better than fifth in the tournament.

Canada’s number-one player and world number-two Jonathan Power of Toronto, who has been seriously hampered by a hamstring pull for the last few weeks, was upset by Karim Darwish in the opening match 9-2, 9-2, 10-9.

"The boys are down," said Canadian national team coach Gene Turk of Winnipeg. "Jonathon is really struggling with injuries. He wasn’t moving very well on the court. We’ll probably rest him for the consolation matches."

Canadian number-two Graham Ryding of Toronto, who has battled a foot injury this week, tied it at 1-1 with an impressive victory over Amr Shabana of Egypt 9-4, 9-5, 9-0. In the deciding match, Mohamed Abbas beat Shahier Razik of Toronto 9-3, 6-9, 9-1, 9-7 to keep the sixth-seeded Egyptians in the hunt for gold.

"Shahier gave it everything he had," said Turk. "He feels he let the guys down but on paper he was a longshot. We’re proud with how he played. This Abbas guy is really good." In the other quarter finals, top-seeded Australia defeated France 3-0, third-seeded England edged Malaysia 2-1 and number-five Scotland took South Africa 2-1.

The Canadians, seeded fourth, can still improve on their sixth place showing from the last worlds in 1997. They’ll face South Africa on Saturday with the winner advancing to Sunday’s fifth-place match against Malaysia or France. "The guys are determined to get fifth spot," said Turk. "I think we can do it but every match will be tough."