01-Feb, Day ONE:Seeds safely
through Pool openers
 The top four seeds secured straightforward wins in today's first
qualifying round of the SDAT WSF Under-21 World Cup, the
inaugural mixed team event launched in Chennai.
Hosts India attracted the biggest crowds to the Indian Squash
Academy where the fourth seeds took on Germany, the No8 seeds,
in Pool A.
 After the second-ranked Indian man Ramit Tandon
earned a hard-fought 11-2, 11-5, 12-10 victory in 45 minutes
over the German number one Rudi Rohrmuller, the event's
highest-ranked player Dipika Pallikal cruised to an 11-2, 11-4,
11-7 win over Franziska Hennes in just 20 minutes to ensure
victory for the crowd favourites.
Now ranked a career-high 14 in the world, Chennai born and bred
Pallikal arrived home just 24 hours before the event started
after celebrating her best Tour success in New York where she
reached the final of the prestigious Tournament of Champions.
"There is always extra pressure on the first match of a new
event, but I was very happy with the way it went - especially as
I only got back from New York yesterday," said the 20-year-old
Indian champion who accredited her recent form to new coach
Sarah Fitz-Gerald, the five-time world champion from Australia
with whom she has been working for more than a year.
"I'm really enjoying playing in this event here at the venue
that I grew up at - and it's a close-knit team - we're all
really good friends," continued Pallikal, whose hometown
performance was supported by various members of her family
including her father and grandmother.
Karan Malik continued the team's winning run by beating Valentin
Rapp 11-8, 11-6, 11-4.
"Ramit gave us a great start - I was delighted with the way he
played," said national coach Cyrus Poncha later. "He did
extremely well to beat Rudi 3/0. Then we sailed through."
 On
an adjacent court, event favourites Egypt despatched fifth seeds
Australia with little trouble - top-ranked Marwan El Shorbagy,
the reigning men's world junior champion, beat Jamie McErvale
11-8, 11-3, 11-3 before the current women's world junior
champion Nour El Tayeb defeated Tamika Saxby 11-4, 11-4, 11-7.
Team number three Mohamed Abouelghar needed just 18 minutes to
secure maximum points for Egypt, overcoming Walter Koteka 11-8,
11-7, 11-4.
 "The first match is never easy and I made a bit of a slow
start," admitted 18-year-old El Shorbagy, who now boasts a new
career-high world No33 ranking. "It's a great tournament - I
really like the format - and I always like to represent my
country."
El Shorbagy agreed that an international squash clash between
Egypt and Australia is always a special occasion: "Australia
have great players - and Rodney Eyles, their manager here, is
one of the greatest players ever."
 Later
in the day, England took on Hong Kong in the first tie on the
centre's all-glass court. Charles Sharpes led the second seeds'
campaign with an 11-1, 11-2, 11-8 win over Cheuk Yan Tang, a
Hong Kong left-hander ranked more than 200 places lower.
England's youngest player Emily Whitlock dropped a game en-route
to her 11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 victory over Karman Siu. "I was
surprisingly nervous before the game," admitted the 17-year-old
European Junior (U19) champion.
"Emily's too much of a perfectionist," said team manager David
Campion after Declan James wrapped things up for England with an
11-6, 11-8, 12-10 defeat of Wong Chi-Him. "She did a good team
job for us."
Campion continued: "They've got a strong system in Hong Kong so
we knew what to expect. But we went in with a strong team and
did what we set out to do, which was to get a good start."
After his win, Sharpes said: "It's good to get the first one out
of way - I was a bit nervous about playing my first game, but I
think I played well."
James added: "It means a lot to me - getting to play in an
England shirt is always an honour. It's a fantastic and very
well organised event."
In the final tie of the day, Lucas Serme put third seeds France
ahead against Malaysia after beating the seventh seeds' Affeeq
Abedeen Ismail 11-5, 11-9, 11-9.
But the underdogs fought back to draw level when Tan Yan Xin
beat French opponent Cyrielle Peltier 11-6, 13-11, 11-13, 11-2.
Order was restored, however, when Geoffrey Demont beat Malaysian
Sanjay Singh 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 to give France a 2/1 win.
"We knew their girl would be good - but our boys played well,"
said French coach Philippe Signoret. "Our players are not used
to playing on the all-glass court."
Was Malaysian team manager Raymond Arnold disappointed with the
outcome of the final match? "No - we had hopes from the first
match in which Abedeen led 7-2 in the second game and 6-2 in the
third! He lost concentration - it was a new experience for him." Wed 1st Feb, Day One:
A: India 3-0 Germany
Ramit Tandon
3-0 Rudi Rohrmuller 11-2, 11-5, 12-10
(45m)
Dipika Pallikal 3-0 Franziska Hennes 11-2, 11-4, 11-7
(20m)
Karan Malik 3-0 Valentin
Rapp
11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (33m)
A: Egypt 3-0 Australia
Marwan El Shorbagy 3-0
Jamie McErvale 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 (26m)
Nour El Tayeb 3-0 Tamika Saxby
11-4, 11-4, 11-7 (28m)
Mohamed Abouelghar 3-0 Walter Koteka 11-8,
11-7, 11-4 (18m)
B: England 3-0 Hong Kong
Charles Sharpes 3-0 Cheuk Yan Tang
11-1, 11-2, 11-8 (28m)
Emily Whitlock 3-1 Karman Siu
11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 (35m)
Declan James 3-0 Wong Chi-Him
11-6, 11-8, 12-10 (35m)
B: France 2-1 Malaysia
Lucas
Serme 3-0 Affeeq Aeefeen
11-6, 11-9, 11-9 (31m)
Cyrielle Peltier 1-3 Tan Yan Xin 6-11, 11-13, 13-11, 2-11
(42m)
Geoffrey Demont 3-0 Sanjay Singh
11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (33m) |
Draws & Results
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