FINALS :Egypt complete clean sweep of WSF World Team titles
Egypt’s women and men made history at Hong Kong Football Club with victories over the USA and England in the finals of the WSF World Squash Team Championships, the first edition of the competition to feature both men’s and women’s championships simultaneously.
In the women’s final, Egypt won their fourth consecutive title with a 2-0 win over rising force USA, while the men made it title number six with a tense victory over their closest rivals England.
In the women’s final, Rowan Elaraby and Nour El Sherbini delivered a well-earned win after victories over Marina Stefanoni and Olivia Weaver.
USA’s World No.38 Stefanoni caused Egypt’s World No.7 Elaraby a number of problems in a great battle, with Elaraby eventually overcoming the spirited 22-year-old 11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9 in 42 minutes.
Up next, Nour El Sherbini and Olivia Weaver played out a second world championship final match against each other, with the pair also locking horns two years ago when El Sherbini brushed aside Weaver in the second match of the final in Madinaty to win the title for Egypt on home court.
Weaver is a much improved player since then, though. Despite going into today’s match nursing a back injury that forced her to retire hurt against El Sherbini in the semi-final of the Hong Kong Open last week, Weaver deservedly took the lead tonight, with her immaculate squash rewarded with an 11-7 win.
El Sherbini, as she has done so many times in the past, astutely adjusted her game plan and caused Weaver no end of problems as she fired intelligent shots up the middle of the court to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm, en route to 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 wins to keep the title in Egyptian hands.
“It’s very emotional and it’s always the best feeling playing for your country and playing for your team as well,” El Sherbini said. “It’s always an honour playing the Teams event, especially with these amazing players so I’m really happy to win and to bring the title back to Egypt.”
In the men’s final, both Mazen Hesham and Ali Farag were forced to dig deep and fight back against a fired up England side, who were aiming to end a run of three consecutive final defeats to the reigning champions.
England’s World No.35 Curtis Malik came out at breathtaking pace in the opener, playing some of the best squash of his career to date as he took the game to World No.5 Hesham, forcing the Egyptian onto the back foot with an 11-4 win.
Hesham saved game ball to level the scores with a 13-11 win in game two, but looked uncomfortable, and Malik regained the lead with a dominant 11-6 win.
Hesham played his best game of the final in game four, finally consistently beating Malik’s defences with a combination of patient play and some of his trademark skill to level the scores again 11-6 before finally getting over the line in an 11-8 win in the decider against the distraught Malik.
In the second match of the final, Farag played out another epic encounter with Alexandria-born Mohamed ElShorbagy, whom he described as the greatest rival of his career ahead of the tournament.
ElShorbagy was in sparkling form for much of tonight’s clash, hitting with real ferocity to take a deserved lead through an 11-6 win.
Farag, who endured a torrid start to his semi-final against France’s Victor Crouin before eventually coming back from 0-2 down, clung on in game two, claiming what felt like a hugely important win via a tie break, 13-11.
Both men continued to throw everything at each other as the title bout wore on, but it was Farag who was able to make the telling contribution, as he did in last year’s final in New Zealand, clinching the next two games 11-8, 11-9 to ensure Egypt would enter the history books as the first nation to win the combined championships.
Caught up in the emotion of the moment, Farag vaulted the back wall and leapt into the arms of his teammates in unbridled joy and relief.
“It feels amazing to create history with team Egypt. Nothing feels better than representing your country and I love wearing this shirt and I love sharing this moment with some of the best players ever who have graced the squash court. I can’t be happier really and it’s one of the happiest moments of my career,” Farag said.
Day SIX : Egypt and England to renew rivalry in Men’s Final
Egypt and England will contest a WSF World Squash Team Championship final rematch after their men’s teams overcame France and Switzerland at Hong Kong Football Club.
The two sides have contested the last five finals and the rivals will lock horns once more after Egypt recovered from a slow start and England produced their best performance of the tournament so far.
Tonight’s win for Egypt marks a historic achievement for Egyptian Squash, with Egypt set to contest the men’s and women’s finals after the women’s team joined USA in the final after winning their semi-final v Belgium yesterday with this year’s competition the first to feature the men’s and women’s events together.
Although Egypt and France had not played against each other since 2011 – a 2-1 win for Egypt in the semi-finals – and in today’s top string match Ali Farag went into it with a perfect record against Victor Crouin, but it was the Frenchman who dominated early on against a laboured-looking Farag, with Crouin taking a 2-0 lead after stunning 11-1, 11-6 wins before Farag eventually settled to fight back 12-10, 11-4, 11-6.
“It means so much to me, I haven’t felt so much ecstasy for a long while. Playing for Egypt is something else,” Farag said.
The second match was a more comfortable affair for the favourites, as World #2 Mostafa Asal overcame Baptiste Masotti in straight games.
Asal looked confident early on against the World #24, keeping ahead of the French #2 throughout as he took the opener 11-8 and then doubled his lead with an 11-4 win.
Masotti battled hard in game three, forcing Asal into lung-busting court coverage that drew gasps and applause from the crowd, but could not break his opponent’s defences as Asal wrapped up the victory with an 11-9 win.
Mazen Hesham and Sebastien Bonmalais opted to play the best-of-three dead rubber, with Bonmalais triumphing 2-1.
Five-time champions England, who have lost in the final to Egypt in the last three editions of the championships, overcame Switzerland – playing in the semi-finals for the second year in a row after previously never advancing beyond the round of 16 – thanks to masterful performances from Egyptian-born brothers Mohamed and Marwan ElShorbagy.
Mohamed ElShorbagy had struggled at times this tournament, with the 33-year-old’s loss to Spain’s Iker Pajares raising eyebrows at Hong Kong Football Club. Today, he came up against Dimitri Steinmann, who defeated ElShorbagy comprehensively at last week’s Hong Kong Open.
To the delight of the England bench, ElShorbagy was at his devastating best, blasting his way into a 2-0 lead with brutal 11-2 and 11-4 wins, with Steinmann unable to keep up with ElShorbagy’s aggression.
Steinmann upped the tempo in game three as he battled to rescue the situation and found a foothold in the match with an 11-3 win, but ElShorbagy kept calm to see out the match with an 11-4 win in game four.
Mohamed’s younger brother Marwan then finished the job, with the 31-year old playing some brilliant squash as he defeated Nicolas Mueller. The 31-year-old look confident and played the cold court conditions perfectly to take the first two games 11-9, 11-9 before powering through in the third 11-4.
“Egypt are the defending champions, they have the best players in the world, to be honest. The pressure is on them to win the final, and I’m just going to enjoy being in the final with them,” Marwan said.
Day FIVE : USA fight back and Egypt power through to set up Championship final rematch
Egypt and USA will contest the WSF World Squash Team Championship final for the second consecutive time after Egypt cruised past Belgium and USA played out a thriller with Malaysia on the stunning outdoor court at Hong Kong Football Club.
Prior to 2022 second seeds USA had never been beyond the quarter-finals, but have now reached the final for the second time in a row after a hard-fought win over the fifth seeds, who yesterday shocked five-time champions England.
Tonight’s win under the floodlights came as much from determination as racket skills.
With the string order 2-1-3, former World #3 Amanda Sobhy – returning to her best after almost a year out through injury – was up first for the 2022 edition’s runners up. World No.17 Rachel Arnold, who was soundly defeated by Sobhy three months ago at the Egyptian Open, was fired up in today’s clash and dominated for much of the contest.
Sobhy, though, called upon the resilience that saw her rise to World #.3, fighting back from losing positions several times and pouncing on mistakes made by Arnold to score a see-saw 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8 win.
“I’m just so proud of myself. I just didn’t want to lose and leave the team 1-0 down. Playing for a team just makes you dig so much deeper than you think. I’m happy to get the win for my teammates,” Sobhy said.
In the second match, Malaysian #1 Sivasangari Subramaniam looked well set to have put her side level when she took a 2-0 lead against Olivia Weaver, with the American playing her first match of the tournament after injuring her back in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open last week.
To the roars of the US bench, Weaver finally found her rhythm in game three, reducing the deficit with an 11-5 win before pouncing on her demoralised opponent to sweep the next two games 11-2, 11-2 to complete the comeback and send her side into the final.
“I’m just so proud to get the win for my team. I don’t normally have this kind of support when playing on the PSA Tour, so I’m really grateful to have had Team USA out here cheering so loudly for me,” Weaver said.
Standing between USA and a maiden title are reigning champions Egypt, who will be hoping to win a fourth consecutive title after taking down European champions and first time semi-finalists Belgium.
The first match saw Belgium’s Tinne Gilis up against Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy.
Despite Gilis’ torrid 0-14 head-to-head record against El Hammamy, the Belgian was fearless, fighting back after dropping game one by saving multiple game balls in game two to level 12-10.
Gilis saved two game balls again in game three, but could not repeat her game two escape, with El Hammamy winning the tie break this time 12-10 to reclaim her lead.
In an exciting fourth game, El Hammamy was able to press home her advantage, recovering from a slow start to eventually clinch the third tie-break of the match 13-11 to give her side the lead.
“I was just thinking about Egypt, my team and my coaches. I needed to win it for them,” El Hammamy said.
The second match of the tie was entirely one-sided, with El Sherbini – who slipped from the World No.1 ranking at the beginning of the week to World No.2 – storming into a 2-0 lead after a five-minute 11-4 win in game one and an eight-minute 11-4 win in game two.
Coll competed better early on in game three, but soon faded, and El Sherbini confirmed her country’s spot in the final by closing out 11-6.
Afterwards, El Sherbini said: “It’s amazing being here. I love it here and have been coming here for many years. It’s the first time I’ve come to Hong Kong Football Club and I love it. It’s amazing and the facilities are amazing!”
Day FOUR : Malaysia stun England as Belgium reach first semi-final
Sisters Nele Coll and Tinne Gilis starred as Belgium reached the semi-finals of the WSF World Squash Team Championships for the first time as the third seeds fought back from a match down to defeat hosts Hong Kong, China.
European champions Belgium had not contested this event for 20 years but have entered a women’s side in this year’s event – which is the first in championship history to feature the men’s and women’s competitions simultaneously – thanks in no small part to the prolific recent form of Coll and Gilis, who have risen as high as World 4 and World No.5 in the PSA World Rankings in recent months.
On the indoor glass court at Hong Kong Football Club, Coll – married to New Zealand No.1 and men’s World No.4 Paul Coll – came in with Belgium one match down in the tie after Tsz-Wing Tong defeated Chloe Crabbe in straight games.
Coll did not let the situation faze her, though, with the 28-year-old quickly taking down Hong Kong, China No.1 Tomato Ho to draw Belgium level.
Younger sister Tinne then finished what Nele had started, crushing the home crowd’s hopes with a comprehensive 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 win against Sin Yuk Chan.
Belgium will face defending champions Egypt in the semi-finals after the top seeds made short work of France on the outdoor glass court, as Amina Orfi and Hania El Hammamy overcame Enora Villard and Melissa Alves to secure a quick win.
“It means a lot after having not participated for so long. It’s a new adventure and then to reach the semi-finals the first time we did it, it’s great!” Belgium Coach Ronny Vlassaks.
The other women’s semi-final will be contested by last year’s runners up USA andfifth seeds Malaysia after USA cruised past India and Malaysia defeated fourth seeds England, ending the five-time champions run of making the last four of every World Team Championship they’d contested.
England’s Lucy Beecroft, a late addition to the team after an injury to England No.1 Georgina Kennedy at last week’s Hong Kong Open, started well against Aira Azman before falling to the shot-making 20-year-old.
Asian Games champion Sivasangari Subramaniam then completed the win, finally finding her best form after a challenging tournament so far to overcome Sarah-Jane Perry 4-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6.
In the men’s event fourth seeds Switzerland came through a testing encounter with No.6 seeds Colombia.
World No.50 Yannick Wilhelmi gave Switzerland – who last year reached the semi-finals for the first time – the lead with a decisive win over World No.81 Matias Knudsen.
Colombia hit back brilliantly in match two via veteran Miguel Rodriguez, with the 38-year-old surviving a fightback from Dimitri Steinmann to win in five games, before Nicolas Mueller recovered from a slow start against Ronald Palomino to record a 3-1 win to send Switzerland through.
Switzerland will face last year’s runners up England after the second seeds sent hosts Hong Kong, China out courtesy of wins for Curtis Malik and Mohamed ElShorbagy.
The other men’s semi-final will be between defending champions Egypt and France, after Egypt overcame Germany 2-0 and France beat India by the same scoreline.
Day THREE : India upset Malaysia and Australia to reach quarter-finals as hosts Hong Kong advance
India enjoyed double delight at Hong Kong Football Club as they reached the last eight of the WSF World Squash Team Championships after their men’s team upset fifth seeds Malaysia and their women’s side took down nine-time champions Australia.
Seeded 9/12, India’s men came up against the reigning ASF Asian Team champions with a lot to do, a task that became even harder after their first string Abhay Singh went down 3-0 to Malaysian first string Eain Yow Ng.
The team’s response was excellent, though. With today’s string order 1-3-2, it was up to third string Veer Chotrani to rescue his side, and the 23-year-old confidently pulled India level with a win in straight games over Mohd Syafiq Kamal.
In the decider, second string Velavan Senthilkumar proved the hero for his side, ramping up the pressure after an even start to win 11-8, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4.
That win for the men followed a strong showing from their women’s team, with the 10/12 seeded side overcoming 7/9 seeds Australia 2-1 after comfortable wins for Anahat Singh and Akanksha Salunkhe, either side of a loss for Nirupama Dubey to Sarah Cardwell.
“It feels really good to make the top eight,” Senthilkumar said.
“It was a good match and being the deciding match, there’s always a bit of pressure. I was nervous but I got better and better as the match went on.”
India’s men will face France in the next round after the third seeds beat South Africa 2-0. India’s women will play 2022 runners up USA, with the second seeds receiving a bye after the pools stage.
Meanwhile, hosts Hong Kong, China came back from difficult starts in both competitions as their sixth seeded women’s team edged past Scotland while their eighth seeded men beat seventh seeds USA.
The women’s side had sailed through the Pools Stage, but struggled against 10/12 seeds Scotland, with Tomato Ho convincingly beaten by Georgia Adderley before Tsz-Wing Tong beat Ellie Jones in straight games and then Ka Yi Lee nervously survived a comeback from Alison Thomson to claim an 11-8, 11-4, 14-16, 10-12, 11-9 victory.
The men’s side, meanwhile, came back from a match down for the second tie in a row as Alex Lau lost a five-game thriller to Timothy Brownell before Ming Hong Tang and Henry Leung delivered 3-1 wins against Nicholas Spizzirri and Spencer Lovejoy.
Coach Faheem Khan said afterwards: “I’m really proud of both of the teams, they have done really well. That was exciting!”
The hosts’ women’s team will play third seeds Belgium in the quarter-final. The men will take on second seeds England, who survived a huge scare against 13/16 seeds Spain, with England 1 Mohamed ElShorbagy being flattened by Iker Pajares 11-6, 11-8, 11-1 before Curtis Malik overcame Edmon Lopez in a bad-tempered clash and Marwan ElShorbagy defeated Ivan Perez in straight games.
Day TWO : Hosts Hong Kong win through to Men’s and Women’s Playoffs
Hong Kong, China, enjoyed a perfect day on the home court of Hong Kong Football Club as their women’s and men’s teams reached the knockout stages of the 2024 WSF World Squash Team Championships, the first edition of the event to feature both competitions simultaneously.
The women’s team showed off their impressive strength in depth by opting to rest their No.1 and Hong Kong Football Club’s own Tomato Ho, with Sin Yuk Chan promoted to first string as she, Ka Yi Lee and Tsz-Wing Tong earned victory over South Africa, with Chan coming back from 2-1 down to defeat Hayley Ward to ensure that the hosts ended the pools stage without a match dropped and winning 27 of the 32 games played.
The hosts will play Scotland in the next round after Scotland finished second in Pool B.
The men’s team, meanwhile, fired back after a defeat to Pakistan yesterday by beating tournament debutants Peru, who are led by reigning individual world champion Diego Elias.
Elias won his match against the hosts’ first string Alex Lau, but Henry Leung and Ming Hong Tang were able to get the wins needed over Rafael Galvez and Alonso Escuder to secure their spot in the last 16, with Leung recovering from a nervy start to record a 3-1 win and Tang looking controlled in a straight-games victory.
Hong Kong, China will face USA in the next round after USA crushed China without dropping a game to top Pool G.
Afterwards, team manager and coach Peter Genever said: “The women were all really convincing. I think [the team’s balance is a real strength]. They’re all experienced on the PSA Squash Tour and have been playing for a number of years and are experienced as a group. All four get on well and it’s nice to have that team spirit and that’s really strong with them. I think they’re a really good group and are looking forward to the knockout stages.”
On the worries of exiting in the Pools Stage in the men’s event, he said: “Everyone’s always looking for a story, all the other teams aren’t they! It’s added pressure there but the guys responded really well today. Henry Leung played late last night and was first on today and he came back really well, and then Tang winning in three looked good.
“Now, let’s recover well and get in shape for the next one!”
Elsewhere, defending champions in both events Egypt overcame spirited challenges from Japan in the men’s and women’s events on the all-glass court to eventually record 3-0 wins, with the women’s team also beating Spain on the traditional court later in the day.
Both No.1s Nour El Sherbini and Ali Farag found it difficult initially, with El Sherbini falling a game down to Satomi Watanabe before eventually triumphing 6-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8, while Farag recovered from losing his first game against Tomotaka Endo to win.
The WSF World Team Championships continue tomorrow, 11 December, from 12:00 (GMT+8), as the knockout stages take place, with the men’s event entering a round of 16 and the women’s entering a round of 12, with Egypt, Belgium, England and USA receiving a bye to the quarter-finals.
Day ONE : Pakistan stun Hong Kong on opening day at HKFC
Six-time champions Pakistan overcome hosts Hong Kong, China in thriller on day one of WSF World Squash Team Championships
The 2024 WSF World Squash Team Championships got off to a thrilling start as six-time champions Pakistan came from behind to down hosts Hong Kong, China to top Pool H in the men’s event.
The home crowd was given reason to celebrate by the women’s team, though, with the side winning both of the ties they played.
This year’s championships, which are being played at Hong Kong Football Club from 9-15 December, marks a moment in squash history, with the men’s and women’s championships being contested simultaneously for the first time.
The best of the action was saved until last on the indoor all-glass court, which will be the main court until the addition of a second all-glass court, which will be situated on the famous pitch of Hong Kong Football Club from the quarter-finals onwards.
Home club hero Alex Lau gave his side the lead in a tense 64-minute clash with Asim Khan, with the 28-year-old clinching the opener 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-4.
20-year-old Noor Zaman – who had starred in another Pakistan comeback earlier that day against debutants Peru – then pulled his side level with an 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 4-11, 6-11 win to put the fate of the tie in the hands of Chi Him Wong and Nasir Iqbal.
To the delight of his watching teammates, Iqbal was able to assert himself, hitting a trio of 11-5 wins to send Pakistan, without the title since 1993 and playing the championship for the first time since 2017, to the top of Pool H ahead of their final pool stage tie against Italy tomorrow.
Afterwards, Iqbal said: “We are so proud to be representing Pakistan. When we get on the court we are so energetic because we are representing our country. After a long break, we are back playing and we’re all giving 200 percent.
“Noor Zaman is playing so well, and then in the third match there was a lot of pressure on me.”
Earlier in the day, Hong Kong, China’s women’s side impressed in front of the home crowd. With the team playing a double header in Pool F against Finland at 12:00 and Australia at 17:30, careful management was essential, with all members of the squad involved.
To the roars of the crowd, the team came through unscathed, recording convincing 3-0 wins against both to top their group.
“I thought that I wouldn’t be nervous, but it is always tough playing the first matches,” No.3 string Tsz-Wing Tong said afterwards.
“There is an added pressure [playing on a home court] because everyone expects us to give them a good game. I think it is more motivation though, because we rarely get to play alongside the men’s team. It’s a huge motivation for the team as a whole to just play our best. I think regardless of how far we go, the fans will be supporting us anyway.”
In a minor seedings upset, [17/20] seeds South Africa overcame eight-time champions and [13/16] seed Australia, with 18-year-old senior team debutant Luhann Groenewald – known for his unorthodox two-handed technique – delivering the decisive win after a win for Dewald Van Niekerk beat Joseph White and a defeat for Luhann’s brother, Damian Groenewald, to Rhys Dowling.
“Any South African would tell you what a privilege it is to wear the green and gold, so playing for the South African team for the first time was a really big opportunity for me to learn and to get the experience,” Luhann Groenewald said afterwards.
