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Men's Team Day 3
by Elspeth Burnside Oct 24, 2001 © 2001 Elspeth Burnside and Squashtalk
[last update was 24-oct-01 ]

South Africa shocks Wales
 [Men's Pool Draw] [Men's Teams]

WORLD MEN'S TEAM SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS - SPORTS AND AQUATICS CENTRE, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - THIRD DAY, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24

Wales, the no two seeds, suffered a shock defeat from South Africa and set up a needle all-British last 16 tie against third seeds England at the world squash team championships at the Sports and Aquatics Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

The Welsh fielded the same team that finished runners-up to Egypt in Cairo two years ago. But only David Evans, last year's British Open Champion, managed to secure a point, beating Rodney Durbach 9-4, 9-5, 9-2.

Alex Gough, the world no 13, lost to the world no 102, Glenn Whittaker, and Greg Tippings slipped up 9-6, 2-9, 9-2, 9-5 in the decider against Michael Toothill.

England, after dropping a point to Pakistan in the previous round, were able to rest top player Mark Chaloner and still whitewashed Kenya 3-0 to top Pool C. Chris Walker, Paul Johnson and Lee Beechill all won easily in straight games.

Chris Robertson, the Welsh tam manager, commented: "We were always going to be in for a tougher match after finishing second in our Pool, and it's just our luck that we draw England. But it promises to be a great match."

Australia, the top seeds, were also able to rest world no one David Palmer and still crushed Norway 3-0 to go through to a meeting with Sweden. The home favourites fielded Paul Price, Stewart Boswell and John Williams, and all three won 3-0 as Australia completed Pool A without dropping a game.

Canada, the no four seeds headed by world no two Jonathon Power, also easily reached the last 16. With a 3-0 win over Finland to win Pool D they earned a tie with Ireland.

Defending champions Egypt, weakened by the loss of the recently retired former world no two Ahmed Barrada, still managed to top Pool F and line-up against Denmark.

Malaysia beat the Netherlands 3-0 to upset the seedings and top Pool E. In a titanic struggle, Malaysia's world no ten Ong Beng Hee clung on to his unbeaten record with a 6-9, 9-4, 6-9, 9-6, 9-8 win over Tommy Berden in a match that stretched to just over two hours.

Kenneth Low and Mohammed Azlan then completed the victory for the 12th seeds with straight games wins over Lucas Buit and Marc Reus respectively.

Scotland, seeded five, had to settle for second best in the same Pool having suffered a shock opening day defeat from the Netherlands, but the side still go through to the last 16.

Results:

Pool A:
Australia bt Norway 3-0 (P Price bt R Larsson 9-2, 9-1, 9-0; S Boswell bt R Pettersen 9-0, 9-0, 9-2; J Williams bt J Salem 9-0, 9-1, 9-0);
Ireland bt Hong Kong 3-0 (D Ryan bt F Khan 9-1, 5-9, 2-9, 9-1, 9-0; L Kenny bt V Cheung 9-6, 9-5, 9-4; S Richardson bt R Ngan 9-3, 9-1, 9-4)
Final placings: 1, Australia 2, Ireland 3, Hong Kong 4, Norway

Pool B:
South Africa bt Wales 2-1 (R Durbach lost to D Evans 9-4, 9-5, 9-2; G Whittaker bt A Gough 9-0, 9-4, 10-9; M Toothill bt G Tippings 9-6, 2-9, 9-2, 9-5)
Germany bt Mexico 3-0 (S Frenz bt M Galves 9-6, 9-5, 9-2; S Leifels bt A Zarazua 9-3, 9-1, 9-4; E Schneider bt O Montero 9-0, 9-1, 9-1)
Final placings: 1, South Africa 2, Wales 3, Germany 4, Mexico

Pool C:
England bt Kenya 3-0 (C Walker bt O Kwach 9-1, 9-1, 9-0; P Johnson bt H Bains 9-0, 9-0, 9-7; L Beechill bt C Walia 9-0, 9-1, 9-0);
Pakistan bt Sweden 3-0 (M Zaman bt D Forslund 9-4, 9-0, 9-1; S Zaman bt C Drakenberg 4-9, 9-4, 9-1, 9-0; S Khan bt J Jungling 9-2, 9-2, 9-3)
Final placings: 1, England 2, Pakistan 3, Sweden 4, Kenya

Pool D:
Denmark bt Japan 3-0 (M Korsberg bt K Sano 9-4, 9-7, 9-7; M Hansen bt Y Watanabe 9-5, 9-7, 9-2; M Korsberg bt R Tanno 9-1, 9-3, 9-2);
Canada bt Finland 3-0 (J Power bt O Tuominen 9-4, 9-6, 4-9, 9-4; G Ryding bt M Monto 9-2, 9-7, 9-0; S Razik bt J Raumolin 9-5, 2-9, 9=-5, 9-5)
Final placings: 1, Canada 2, Finland 3, Denmark 4, Japan

Pool E
Scotland bt Austria 3-0 (J White bt G Schedlbauer 9-3, 9-5, 9-1; M Heath bt A Fuchs 6-9, 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; P O'Hara bt M Gruber 9-2, 9-0, 9-3);
Malaysia bt Netherlands 3-0 (B H Ong bt T Berden 6-9, 9-4, 6-9, 9-6, 9-8; K Low bt L Buit 9-6, 9-7, 9-1; M Azlan bt M Reus 9-0, 9-3, 9-6)
Final placings: 1, Malaysia 2, Scotland 3, Netherlands 4, Austria

Pool F:
New Zealand bt USA 2-1 (P Steel lost to D Walker 9-2, 7-9, 8-10, 0-9; D Sharplin bt R Chin 3-9, 9-5, 9-6, 9-0; G Crosby bt P Quick 9-2, 9-6, 9-3);
Egypt bt France 2-1 (K Darwish lost to T Lincou 9-4, 8-10, 4-9, 5-9; O Elborolossy bt J-M Arcucci 9-5, 9-4, 9-3; M Abbas bt G Gaultier 6-9, 9-4, 9-6, 3-9, 9-4)
Final placings: 1, Egypt 2, France 3, New Zealand 4,

USA WALKER IN FINE FORM FOR USA
American no 1 Damien Walker claimed his country's first point with an impressive win over Paul Steel, but he couldn't stop new Zealand from claiming the tie 2-1 in the final Pool E match at the world championships.

But it was great day for Walker as he pulled off a battling 2-9, 9-7, 10-8, 9-0 victory over the former world top 20 Kiwi. Richard Chin, in the second string match, raised hopes of another upset when he took the opening game against Daniel Sharplin, but he went down 3-9, 9-0, 9-6, 9-0, and Preston Quick then lost the deciding rubber 9-2, 9-6, 9-3 to George Crosby. "But it was a good performance by our boys," said coach Richard Millman. "I was delighted for Damien."

However, the USA finished fourth in Pool F and were drawn to face Norway in the first round of play-offs for places 17 to 24.