For Daily updates: TODAY in Chennai

20-Jan:
Egypt Named as
World Cup Favourites

Egypt have been named as top seeds for next month’s inaugural WSF Under-21 World Cup in India.

The new biennial event, launched by the World Squash Federation, will be staged at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai from 1-5 February.

The championship will feature mixed teams of two men and one woman, following the highly successful format of the biennial WSF World Cup.

Egypt’s formidable squad includes the two reigning world junior champions Marwan El Shorbagy and Nour El Tayeb - ranked 41 and 20, respectively, in the world and both still aged 18 – in addition to 20-year-old world No42 Karim Abdel Gawad; 18-year-old Mohamed Abouelghar, ranked 78; and 16-year-old former world junior champion Nour El Sherbini, currently the world No28.

England are seeded to line up against Egypt in the final. The second seeds are pinning their hopes on a squad led by 19-year-old Charles Sharpes, ranked 96 in the world, and 17-year-old European Junior Champion Emily Whitlock, the world No33.

Home hopes are led by an Indian squad featuring Dipika Pallikal, the women’s world No15 from Chennai and the highest-ranked player in the event. Making up the squad are 17-year-old Asian Junior U19 champion Anaka Alankamony, andRavi Dixit, Ramit Tandon and Karan Malik.

Early action will take place in two pools of four teams each, followed by semi-finals on Saturday 4 February, and the final on the Sunday.

“After the very successful biennial WSF World Cup last year, it is now great to welcome the debuting WSF Under 21 World Cup in intervening years,” said WSF CEO Andrew Shelley.

“It will provide a superb world level mixed team opportunity for top juniors and players who have recently left the under 19 age band. It is sure to grow as nations see how well it will be hosted in Chennai and start to allocate budgets to take their places too.”

Oct 2011:
World Cup goes U21

The World Squash Federation has added a new dimension to its world squash championships' roster with the launch of the WSF Under-21 World Cup.

The inaugural U21 World Cup - an entirely new biennial event introducing a new age-group category in the sport - will take place in Chennai, India, from 1-5 February 2012.

The new championship will be for mixed teams of two men and one woman following the highly successful format of the biennial WSF World Cup.

The U21 World Cup will be held in the alternate years of the WSF World Cup and will be staged in 2012 at the same Express Avenue Mall venue which hosted the 2011 World Cup.

The new championship will provide a great showcase not only for the cream of juniors but those who are transitioning as seniors, as well as those Under 21s who are already established," said WSF CEO Andrew Shelley.

"We believe this adds a significant new world championship opportunity to our portfolio of events - one which will benefit both players and regional federations," Shelley continued.