Egyptian National Coach Amir Wagih was delighted: "We promised we would come back to our country with the cups, and that's what we are doing. I'm so proud of my team!" (photo: Steve Cubbins, SquashSite) 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
