2012

Squash World Championship to introduce 3 Glass Show Courts!

July 29, 2012 • Tags: , , , , , • Categories: all posts, associations, teams, tournaments

In a unique development for squash, action in the 2012 Women’s World Team Championship in France in November will take place on 3 new state-of-the-art all-glass show courts, which are manufactured by ASB.

The exciting initiative by the Fédération Française de Squash will ensure that, for the 1st time in the event’s 33-year history, all the teams participating in the event should experience the opportunity of playing on all-glass courts.

In previous world team championships, most of the action has taken place on club courts, with only a few teams playing on a single four-glass-walled court leading up to its use for the event’s final rounds.

The 2012 Women’s World Team Championship will be staged in France for the 1st time – at the La Parnasse Arena and the 8-court Squash Des Costieres Club, in Nimes, from 12-17 November.

On the completion of the championship, the all-glass courts will be dismantled and re-erected in the country’s 3 national training centres – one in Creteil in Paris, one in Aix-en-Provence and the 3rd in Le Mans.

“Our investment in three ASB all-glass show courts is a major initiative for the Federation – not just to use in 2 world championships in France, which we are very proud to host, but also for the long-term to use in our three national training centres,” said FFS President Jacques Fontaine. “Both the Women’s World Teams in Nimes, then next year the Men’s World Team Championship in Mulhouse, will provide major promotional opportunities for squash in our country and worldwide.

But the fact that the courts can be used in different locations is one of the key attributes of moveable, all-glass show courts like these,” Fontaine added. “Thus the initial investment in two world championships will provide a legacy which will give a major boost to the development of the sport in the future.”

World Masters Squash Championships – Birmingham

July 28, 2012 • Tags: , , , • Categories: all posts, tournaments

World Masters Squash Championships, Birmingham, England
FINALS RESULTS:
WOMEN:
O35: [1] Sabine Schoene (GER) bt [2] Wendy Maitland Jones (SCO) 11-3, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3 (39m)
O40: [3/4] Simone Korell (GER) bt Linda Shannon (RSA) 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (21m)
O45: [1] Michelle Martin (AUS) bt [2] Sarah Nelson (AUS) 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6 (29m)
O50: Susan Lawrence (JAM) bt [5/8] Theresa Elliot (ZIM) 11-8, 13-11, 11-8 (25m)
O55: [1] Julie Field (ENG) bt [3/4] Anne Richards (AUS) 11-7, 4-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9 (33m)
O60: [1] Sue Volkze (AUS) bt [3/4] Faith Sinclair (SCO) 11-4, 10-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-2 (40m)
O65: Ann Manley (ENG) bt [3/4] Bett Dryhurst (ENG) 11-7, 12-10, 12-10 (36m)
O70: [1] Barbara Sanderson (IRL) bt [2] Glenda Erasmus (RSA) 10-12, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 (22m)

MEN:
O35: [2] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt [3/4] Stefan Leifels (GER) 14-12, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8 (46m)
O40: [2] Craig Rowland (AUS) bt [3/4] Nick Taylor (ENG) 11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7 (47m)
O45: [1] Craig van der Wath (RSA) bt [5/8] Yawar Abbas (ENG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (30m)
O50: [3/4] Wille Hosey (IRL) bt Dominic Hughes (USA) 11-1, 11-7, 11-4 (20m)
O55: [2] Pierr Roodt (RSA) bt [1] Peter Alexander (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (35m)
O60: [9/16] John Macrury (CAY) bt [1] Keith Jones (ENG) 3-11, 12-10, 11-1, 11-3 (31m)
O65: [1] Phil Ayton (ENG) bt [5/8] Roy Plumstead (RSA) 11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9 (33m)
O70: [1] Adrian Wright (ENG) bt [2] Brian Phillips (WAL) 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-2 (26m)
O75: [2] Patrick Kirton (ENG) bt [3/4] Malcolm Gilham (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5 (31m)
O80: [1] Peter Fahrenheim (RSA) bt [3/4] Alex Hamilton (SCO) 11-2, 11-2, 11-7 (14m)

Egypt Retain World Junior title in Qatar!

July 20, 2012 • Tags: , , , , , , , • Categories: all posts, teams, tournaments

In the 5th fifth successive meeting in the climax of the biennial World Junior Team Squash Championships, it was favourites Egypt who again triumphed over 2nd seeds Pakistan in the final in the Qatar capital Doha to retain the title.

It was Egypt’s Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry, an individual quarter-finalist, who beat Syed Ali Shah Bokhari from Pakistan 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 to give Egypt the lead.

The second match was the top string battle between Marwan El Shorbagy and Nasir Iqbal The Pakistani made a good start, but Shorbagy patiently pegged back the early lead, then closed out the match 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 in 39 minutes to keep the world team title in Egyptian hands.

“This is our second title in a row,”said a delighted Egyptian National Coach Amir Wagih. “Both the players today played really well – Mazen played a solid match and Marwan played a perfect match! Those two tournament titles, both individuals and team event, are very important for Egypt.”

The result sees Marwan finishing his junior career on a high – and the 18-year-old from Alexandria was naturally delighted: “I’m so happy Egypt has won the title again, and as for myself, winning this title again, with a different team, is such an honour. Today, I played my best squash at last, I must have relaxed a bit, and when you are representing and playing for your country, it’s a completely different thing. I’m so happy we get to keep this title in Egypt, and so proud I was able to win two individual titles too.”

The opening tie on the glass court saw India claim their highest-ever finish after upsetting third seeds and former champions England 2/0.

“We’ve done today what no other Indian men’s team ever done before,” said an ecstatic Indian national coach Cyrus Poncha. “And this is also the 1st time ever a men’s team has beaten England.

Final:
[1] EGYPT bt [2] PAKISTAN 2/0
Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry bt Syed Ali Shah Bokhari 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6
Marwan El Shorbagy bt Nasir Iqbal 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 (39m)

3rd place play-off:
[4] INDIA bt [3] ENGLAND 2/0
Kush Kumar bt Richie Fallows 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 13-11 (46m)
Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Ollie Holland 6-11, 11-0, 11-6, 11-7 (54m)

5th place play-off:
[5] HONG KONG CHINA bt [13/18] JAPAN 2/0
Ho Tze Ho bt Tomotaka Endo 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3
Cheuk Yan Tang bt Ryosei Kobayashi 7-11, 11-9, 15-13, 11-6 (50m)

7th place play-off:
[10] CANADA bt [6] USA 2/1
Zachary Leman lost to Devin McLaughlin 5-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-6, 8-11 (54m)
Cameron Seth bt Peter Dylan Murray 11-8, 12-14, 7-11, 11-3, 11-5 (66m)
Tyler Olson bt Edward Columbia 12-10, 11-3, 11-7 (37m)

9th place play-off:
[11] NEW ZEALAND bt [12] KUWAIT 2/1
Todd Redman bt Athbi Khalid Hamad 11-7, 11-5, 12-10 (26m)
Jonathan Barnett lost to Yousif Nizar Saleh 8-11, 9-11, 10-12 (39m)
Zachary Millar bt Yousif Ali 9-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-3 (40m)

11th place play-off:
[13/18] GERMANY bt [13/18] BRAZIL 2/1
Niklas Becher bt Cassiano de Jesus Silva 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (25m)
Felix Auer lost to Josimar Silva 7-11, 4-11, 11-5, 6-11 (29m)
Andre Ergenz bt Pedro Veiga 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (30m)

13th place play-off:
[8] COLOMBIA bt [7] FRANCE 2/0
Nicolas Valderrama bt Auguste Dussourd 8-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4 (49m)
Juan Camilo Vargas bt Alexandre Cogno 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-13, 11-6 (55m)

15th place play-off:
[13/18] SOUTH AFRICA bt ARGENTINA 2/1
Simpiwe Gqibane lost to Gonzalo Gallardo 8-11, 8-11, 11-13 (32m)
Ruan Olivier bt Federico Cioffi 12-14, 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9 (56m)
Luke Willemse bt Rodrigo Obregon 11-9, 11-6, 11-13, 16-14 (50m)

17th place play-off:
[9] AUSTRALIA bt [13/18] BELGIUM 2/1
Thomas Calvert bt Vincent Hitchins 11-8, 18-16, 12-10 (45m)
Rhys Dowling lost to Jan van den Herrewegen 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11 (43m)
T J Rarere bt Jordy Camps 11-3, 11-7, 11-5 (22m)

19th place play-off:
QATAR bt ZIMBABWE 2/1
Abdulwahab Al-Ishaq lost to David A Fisher 6-11, 4-11, 8-11 (22m)
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi bt Faisal Hassan 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (17m)
Faisal Al-Marri bt Blessing Muhwate 11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9 (28m)

21st place play-off:
IRAQ bt [13/18] SWITZERLAND 2/0
Hasanain Obaid Dakheel bt Remo Handl 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-6 (55m)
Mohammed Ferman Hasan bt Robin Gadola 11-7, 11-7, 14-12 (39m)

23rd place: GUATEMALA

Top 4 made the World Junior Team semi-finals!

July 17, 2012 • Tags: , , , , , , , • Categories: all posts, teams, tournaments

A dramatic fight-back in the quarter-finals in Qatar sees India (pic) back in the top 4 of the of the WSF Men's World Junior Team Championship.

The seedings suggested a close encounter against Asian rivals Hong Kong China, the 5th seeds – but 4th seeds India were on a mission to make up for a 5th place finish in the 2010 championship. India's reward is a meeting with favourites Egypt. The defending champions, looking for their 4th title since 1994, despatched Canada 3/0.

The other semi-final will see 2nd seeds and 4-time former champions Pakistan take on England, the No3 seeds and also previous winners of the title four times. Pakistan brushed aside surprise opponents Japan 2/0 in well under an hour, while England defeated 6th seeds USA 3/0.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [4] INDIA
[2] PAKISTAN v [3] ENGLAND

5th – 8th place play-offs:
[5] HONG KONG CHINA v [10] CANADA
[6] USA v [13/18] JAPAN

9th – 12th place play-offs:
[13/18] BRAZIL v [11] NEW ZEALAND
[12] KUWAIT v [13/18] GERMANY

13th – 16th place play-offs:
[7] FRANCE v ARGENTINA
[8] COLOMBIA v [13/18] SOUTH AFRICA

17th – 20th place play-offs:
[9] AUSTRALIA v ZIMBABWE
[13/18] BELGIUM v QATAR

Japan & Brazil in World Junior breakthroughs!

July 15, 2012 • Tags: , , , , , • Categories: all posts, teams, tournaments

After sensational upsets on the final day of qualifying in WSF Men's World Junior Team Championship in Doha, both Japan (pic) and Brazil will record their highest-ever finishes in the World Squash championship.

The delighted Japanese team made sure of their best-ever finish by beating eighth-seeded Colombia 2/1.

In 5 previous appearances since 1994, Brazil have not finished higher than 23rd. But the team recovered from losing the 1st match against France to beat the No7 seeds 2/1 to secure 2nd place in Pool F.

Meanwhile the top three seeds Egypt, Pakistan and England wasted no time in completing their 3rd straight 3-0 wins to finish top of their respective pools to take up favoured positions in the play-off draw.

1st – 12th place play-offs:
[1] EGYPT bye
[10] CANADA v [13/18] BRAZIL
[4] INDIA bye
[5] HONG KONG CHINA v [11] NEW ZEALAND
[6] USA v [12] KUWAIT
[3] ENGLAND bye
[13/18] JAPAN v [13/18] GERMANY
[2] PAKISTAN bye

13th – 20th place play-offs:
ARGENTINA bye
ZIMBABWE bye
[9] AUSTRALIA bye
[7] FRANCE v IRAQ
[8] COLOMBIA v [13/18] SWITZERLAND
[13/18] BELGIUM bye
QATAR v GUATEMALA
[13/18] SOUTH AFRICA bye

Egypt’s Junior Squash Team – in a class of their own!

July 14, 2012 • Tags: , , , , • Categories: all posts, teams, tournaments

The question for the World Junior Team Championships in Qatar is, if there is any other team capable to challenge Egypt. By having 3 out of 4 semi-finalists in the individuals and having the World Champion Marwan El Shorbagy (ri) and runner-up Mohamed Abouelghar (le) in the team, it seems to make it almost impossible to beat them.

They eased trough their 1st 2 pool matches by overcoming Switzerland and Kuwait in just 45 and 51 minutes – for all 3 games, by the way.

Sherbini and Shorbagy share World Junior Double In Doha!

July 13, 2012 • Tags: , , , , , , • Categories: all posts, players, tournaments

Top seeds Nour El Sherbini (ri) and Marwan El Shorbagy (le) celebrated a notable Egyptian double in Doha by becoming world junior squash champions for the 2nd time – El Shorbagy winning the men’s title in Doha to retain the trophy he won for the 1st time last year, and El Sherbini, in her 3rd final in 4 years, reclaiming the U19 crown she 1st won in 2009 aged just 13.

El Sherbini was more than tested for 2 and a half games by surprise finalist Yathreb Adel – but the world number 7 from Alexandria eased ahead from the middle of the 3rd game, to clinch the title 10-12, 11-9, 11-5, 11-2 after 42 minutes. “Finally, I’ve made it. Finally, I’m back”, El Sherbini said.

The men’s match was a repeat of the all-Egyptian 2011 final – El Shorbagy taking on close friend Mohamed Abouelghar, the No2 seed. Again, the opening games were evenly contested, El Shorbagy taking a 2/1 lead before coming back from 1-7 down in the 4th to retain his title and emulate his brother Mohamed in being a double world junior champion. “I’m so happy: The world junior title again,” gushed El Shorbagy after his 11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8 triumph in 48 minutes.

Men’s:
Final:
[1] Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) bt [2] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8 (48m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) bt [3/4] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) 12-10, 11-7, 5-11, 11-4 (58m)
[2] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [3/4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) 2-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 14-12 (60m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) bt [5/8] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 (53m)
[3/4] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [9/16] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (30m)
[3/4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) bt [5/8] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 (63m)
[2] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [5/8] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 10-12, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 12-10 (90m)

Women’s:
Final:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) 10-12, 11-9, 11-5, 11-2 (42m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [5/8] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (EGY) 11-2, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6 (38m)
[3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt [2] Emily Whitlock (ENG) 11-8, 13-11, 11-7 (45m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [9/16] Melissa Alves (FRA) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (16m)
[5/8] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (EGY) bt [3/4] Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy (EGY) 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 (40m)
[3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt [5/8] Anaka Alankamony (IND) 11-4, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9 (37m)
[2] Emily Whitlock (ENG) bt [5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim Ahmed (EGY) 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-5 (36m)

Sherbini and Shorbagy on World Junior Championship course!

July 10, 2012 • Tags: , , , , , , • Categories: all posts, players, tournaments

The two big favourites of the World Junior Squash Championships, held at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in the Qatar capital Doha, are made the quarter-finals in different styles.

As 16-year-old Egyptian Nour El Sherbini eased through to the last 8 by overcoming Finland’s Emelia Soini in just 16 minutes 11-3, 11-7, 11-2, country-fellow Marwan El Shorbagy (ri) had a tough time. Men's favourite Shorbagy needed all his experience to shake of 9 to 16 seed Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari (le) from Pakistan 5-11, 12-10, 11-3, 8-11, 11-3 in 74 minutes of play.

Quarter-finals set up:
Men’s:
Quarter-finals:
[1] Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) v [5/8] Nasir Iqbal (PAK)
[3/4] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) v [9/16] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR)
[3/4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) v [5/8] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY)
[2] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [5/8] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)

Women’s:
Quarter-finals:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [9/16] Melissa Alves (FRA)
[3/4] Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy (EGY) v [5/8] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (EGY)
[3/4] Yathreb Adel (EGY) v [5/8] Anaka Alankamony (IND)
[2] Emily Whitlock (ENG) v [5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim Ahmed (EGY)