Fifteen seeds through, Germany and Canada tested as Hong Kong
surprise The eight seeded
teams all won their opening matches as the 23rd Men's World
Teams got under way at Paderborn (yes, eight matches at a time
for the first few days), although it was a struggle for a couple
of them.
England, France, Netherlands, Mexico, India and South Africa
all won 3-0 but Germany and Canada were taken to
deciders before they saw off the challenges of Ireland
and Scotland respectively.
For Ireland, veteran Derek Ryan turned in an impressive
performance to beat Jens Schoor 3-0 before the hosts pulled it
back courtesy of wins by Simon Rosner and Andre Haschker, while
Alan Clyne saved two match balls in beating Shahier Razik 12/10
in the fifth to give put the Scots level, but Andrew Schnell
marked his debut with a confident win to keep the Canadians on
course for the last 16.
The second session told a similar tale, with six of the favoured
teams - USA, Pakistan, Malaysia, Australia, Finland and
defending champions Egypt - winning 3/0 while Italy
had to rely on Marcus Berrett to beat fellow vet John Williams
in the decider against Switzerland, but it was left to the last
match of the day (isn't it always) to provide the only upset as
Hong Kong went 2-0 up on 15th seeds New Zealand with
hard-fought wind from Dick Lau and Max Lee.
Read on for snippets of what happened ...
WHAT AN OPENING… The
Germans persist in their idea to make this event a remarkable
success, and so far, they are doing freaking good, I’m here to
tell you.
The first match on the glass court was between Germany and
Ireland, and I just loved what the organisers had prepared for
us.
Stunning
lighting, great MC, loved the music, with the sound of bells
announcing the teams, and the audience, my Word, not a seat left
in the house, wonderful warm atmosphere, obviously some squash
fans as the reading of the names was saluted by warm and
nourished clapping, with the climax of course, for Homeboy Simon
Rosner.
To be honest, while the teams were marching onto the court, I
had goose pumps.. Once again, Paderborn would have to do awfully
bad from now on for this event not being an immense success…
Germany 2-1 Ireland
Derek
Ryan, a former world No7 and the oldest competitor in the
championship, despatched German number two Jens Schoor, a
24-year-old from Koblenz ranked 86 in the world, 11-8, 11-6,
11-8 in 43 minutes to set up a possible upset.
But the hosts' top string Simon Rosner soon righted the ship.
The 23-year-old world No30 from Paderborn - a member of the club
and championship ambassador - beat the Irish number one Arthur
Gaskin 11-5, 11-2, 11-8.
With the crowd cheering every single winning German point, the
hosts' fourth string Andre Haschker took to the court in a
do-or-die battle with another veteran Steve Richardson, a
38-year-old who has been an Irish international since the early
90s.
All the games were close, but it was Haschker who became the
toast of Paderborn when he beat Richardson 11-9, 14-12, 11-8 in
45 minutes to give Germany a popular 2/1 tie victory.
I
thought I had a chance – I love playing on the glass court, it
takes me back to the old days! I had a strategy and kept to it.
I was pleased with the way I played – I was moving well.
I played in the Europeans in April, but I haven't really played
much squash since, apart from some recent squad sessions with
our new coach Hadrian Stiff.
My saving grace has been where I work in Dublin, where a group
of us get together at 6.00am a couple of days a week and do two
intense 45-minute workouts. If it wasn't for that, I don't think
I'd be in the shape I'm in
I first played in the world team championships in 1989 and have
only missed one since then - in 2005 – when I was taking my
physio exams.
This match gave me my 198th cap – and hopefully I'll make 200
while I'm here!
It's just amazing – the crowds, the setting, the court, the
atmosphere, it's unbelievable. It's how you wish all tournaments
could be. Having a tournament like this in your country is
great, and your town even better – but at your home club is
incredible. It can't get any better than this.
Everybody has really come together for this – from the
government down to the club – and the result is fantastic. I'm
really happy – especially to win today after the disappointing
start.
Now we look forward to playing England tomorrow, then Spain, and
hope to finish in the top two in the group.
I'm
really disappointed – I had a chance, and we had a chance
Both the first two games were really close – and the second game
was crucial
I was playing well, but I was about 10% off when I needed to be
there.
(first Worlds, 1993)
England 3-0 Spain JAMES v BORJA – CLOSE… As
an opening match, that was a bit of a high step, for both
players I must say. Borja and James always had some close
matches, I remember of a stunning match between those two in
Paris, in front of packed crowd, with the French chanting both
players names. And Borja won that match which opened the door to
the final for him….
Today, not the same set up, a traditional court, warm
conditions, and apparently, some slippery conditions too, and a
James explaining regularly to the ref and the cleaners that the
walls and floor had to be wiped.
“I don’t know, must be me, people must be thinking I’m always
whinging about the court!”, the Englishman laughed at the end…
Borja did an excellent match, although a few errors spoiled his
fun, and how those two were able to play stunning short game in
those warm conditions, that’s the question!
"That
was a bit of a poor start, I had no good feeling.. I was so
happy to play today, but I just don’t like being aggravated, it
doesn’t suit my game, but when the court conditions get
difficult, I just cannot help telling what I feel.
"It’s nobody’s fault, we were sweating because of the warm
conditions, the walls were really slippery, the ball, I’m sure
you could see the ball skipping off the wall, and I don’t know,
I seem to be the only one complaining, maybe it’s my fault for
not being 5’9!!!
"We were on level terms for most of the game, Borja is such a
pleasure to play with, it’s good to see him back after the
horrendous time he had. I think he is back at his level, but
it’s not easy to infiltrate the top 10…
"The tournament is brilliant, I’m loving every minute of it!"
"I
feel ok, I was so motivating to play against James, it’s the
kind of matches that I always learn a lot from.
"In the first game, he just played too well, I just couldn’t do
anything, but in the second, I started to play better length and
more accurate squash, to try and avoid his attacking game, he is
one of the best in the world for that. And the game was closer
from that point on.
"If I did a few too many errors, it’s because James was putting
me under so much pressure! It was going too fast, I didn’t have
time to think. It’s very difficult to play error free against
players of that level, and squash is a difficult game when you
play against such a player…"
France 3-0 Argentina Andre Delhoste reports
Thierry
vs GANCHA After a few hesitations from Thierry on the fist 2 points (a
tin and a stroke against) Thierry steps the pace up and take
posession of thr T and tries to volley as many balls as
possible. His opponent cannot follow te pace and surrenders the
first game 11/2.
Thierry tries to play the same on the 2 following games but make
a few bad tactic choices which cost him more points than in the
first game.
The second and third games are won still with a comfortable
margin.
Greg vs MIRANDA
Greg comes strong into the match, using all his shots and
variations in pace. He leaves no peace to his opponent, who
doesn't seem able to find solutions other than fighting back
with running and trying to pick up Greg's numerous shots.
Miranda actually played very good drops, but Greg picked most of
them up. The score is ruthless, Greg only losing a few points in
the 3 games combined.
Gregoire vs ROUDE
Gregoire was celebrating his first cap for the french team in
the world team championship. Gregoire had a few problems
adjusting his fast pace game to the very fast and bouncing
courts, which require more ball precision. His opponent played
some very tight drops especially on the forehand side, but
Gregoire picked most of them up, and got the best of the
Argentinian in the long run.
We finish this first day without losing one game, and get ready
for a more srious opponent tomorrow, the Nederlands.
"It
was my first match for the Senior French team, it was cool!
"It was also the first competitive match of the season, and I
was playing at time as I’m doing in training. I was lucky that
the first match was hard, but not too hard! It’s all about
finding the competitive rhythm again.
"Being here with the French team, Greg, Thierry, Mathieu, it’s
what I’ve been dreaming of since I’m a junior, so it’s “que du
Bonheur”, pure ecstasy, especially here, in a tournament so well
organised, in a beautiful competition. It’s just magic…"
New Zealand 0-3 Hong Kong
It was the last match to
finish that provided the only upset as Hong Kong's young and
improving team beat 15th seeds New Zealand 3/0.
"It’s
a good win for Hong Kong.
"Our team is improving, and our team spirit is getting stronger
too.
"For the past 5 to 6 weeks, I worked a lot of my fitness, which
allowed me to be much more positive in my game. Normally, I
would get very tired in the 3rd or 4th, and would go very
negative.
"But today, I felt very well, very strong, and I was able to
play very positive too. Also, I could feel that, after hard
rallies, I could recover quite quickly too.
"Dick played extremely well against Campbell, a very hard 3/2.
What made the difference today is the belief we had that we
could win. We had that confidence that creates upsets…."
"It
could have gone either way. Dick played really well to get us
off to a good start and I thought Max could beat Martin as
they've been training a lot together recently - and although Max
has never beaten him before in a tournament, I think he knew he
could do it.
"Now we've got Egypt, and that will give us some good matches.
But I can't say we're in a particularly tough pool - I think all
the pools are tough."
HK Coach
Here comes the Squash
The
long wait is over and the 23rd Men's World Team Championships
are here ... after last night's
Opening Ceremonyit's down to business on the squash
court with 16 matches to be played on the first of three days of
Pools action.
A capacity crowd is expected for Germany's match against
Ireland, and with up to eight matches on court at once we'll do
our best to keep you as up to date as possible.
Of course you can follow the matches on
the Glass Court LIVE ... today it's Germany v Ireland at
13.00 and Egypt v Sweden at 18.00.
Canada 2-1 Scotland
It’s my first time representing my country as a senior,
especially as it comes one year exactly after playing for the
junior team in Ecuador – we finished third of the competition…
It’s such an honour for me to play along side Canada stars like
Shahier and Shawn. I was lucky to an extent to qualify for this
event, as I had two very hard 5 setters, I consider myself as
lucky really….
It was a bit stressful to wait for Shahier’s match to end, I had
to warm up several times, but I try and approach my matches
always the same way, whatever it’s a very important match, or a
less crucial one, I just try and take the game one point at a
time.
I’m based in Calgary, and I’ve been training since the age of 15
(I’m 19 now) with Jonathan Hill, and with Yvan Provençal, our
National coach. But most of all, I’m playing every day with my
older brother Graham, and it’s thanks to him if I’m here today.
played the decider against Chris Small
Pakistan 3-0 Austria Aqeel Rehman played out of his skin today, and down
2/0, he managed to claw back to 2/2, giving it all, but didn’t
have much left in the fifth poor mite…
He played very well indeed today, he was extremely sharp. In the
fifth, he was a bit tired, I could see, and I changed my game, I
slowed down the pace a lot, made the rallies last even longer,
and managed a 10/0 lead.
It was good for me to get to play five games, it got me in the
rhythm.
Representing my country is my top priority, and I’m playing
squash to give a good name to my country. You know the events
that are ravaging our land, and we are here to make our country
recognised in the world in the best of way, through excellence
in sport…
HK Coach
