RESULTS: Big Time World Team Squash Championship, Islamabad, Pakistan
1st - 12th place play-offs:
[8] WALES bt [13/18] GERMANY 2-1 (David Evans bt Simon Rosner 9-4, 9-1, 9-0; Alex Gough bt Stefan Leifels 9-8, 10-8, 5-9, 4-9, 9-7; Gavin Jones lost to Simon Baker 3-9, 1-9, 6-9)
[5] CANADA bt [10] INDIA 3-0 (Shahier Razik bt Saurav Ghosal 10-8, 9-6, 9-2; Graham Ryding bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 10-8, 9-4, 9-4; Matthew Giuffre bt Siddharth Suchde 9-4, 9-5)
[7] PAKISTAN bt [9] NETHERLANDS 3-0 (Mansoor Zaman bt Dylan Bennett 9-5, 9-6, 9-1; Shahid Zaman bt Laurens Jan Anjema 9-6, 2-9, 0-9, 9-4, 9-5; Farhan Mehboob bt Tom Hoevenaars 9-0, 9-3)
[6] MALAYSIA bt [12] SOUTH AFRICA 2-1 (Ong Beng Hee bt Michael Tootill 9-4, 9-6, 9-4; Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt Rodney Durbach 9-2, 9-5, 9-1; Timothy Arnold lost to Clinton Leeuw 5-9, 5-9, 7-9)
13th - 22nd place play-offs:
[19/22] USA bt [13/18] HONG KONG 3-0 (Julian Illingworth bt Dick Lau 9-5, 9-5, 9-1; Preston Quick bt Wai Hang Wong 9-0, 9-0, 9-2; Christopher Gordon bt Roger Ngan 9-6, 9-7)
[19/22] SPAIN bt [19/22] AUSTRIA 3-0 (David Vidal Villamide bt Jakob Dirnberger 9-4, 9-2, 9-2; Borja Golan bt Aqeel Rehman 9-1, 9-2, 9-0; Alejandro Garbi Caro bt Stefan Brauneis 10-8, 9-3)
Hosts Pakistan Reach World Quarter-Finals
Hosts Pakistan claimed a place in the quarter-finals of the Big Time World Team Squash Championships for the first time since 1997 after beating Netherlands 3/0 in today’s (Sunday) 1st – 12th place play-offs in Islamabad.
After squad number two Mansoor Zaman put Pakistan ahead with a 9-5 9-6 9-1 victory over Dutchman Dylan Bennett, cousin Shahid Zaman bravely fought back from 2/1 down to beat the Netherlands top string Laurens Jan Anjema 9-6 2-9 0-9 9-4 9-5. In the third rubber, Farhan Mehboob won the best-of-three-games clash with Tom Hoevenaars 9-0 9-3 to give the hosts maximum points.
Despite winning the world team title six times since 1997, Pakistan finished in 12th place in 1999, then 11th two years later, before ending the 2003 championships in ninth place. The jubilant seventh-seeded team now meet third seeds France for a place in the semi-finals.
India, making only their second appearance in the event since 1979, went down 3/0 to Canada – and will now face Germany for a place in the top ten. The fifth seeds were too strong for young Indian squad, despite resting top string and former world No1 Jonathon Power, and now go on to meet fourth seeds and defending champions Australia in the quarter-finals.
Wales took their expected place in the last eight – but only after a nervous battle against surprise qualifiers Germany. Squad No2 David Evans put the Welsh squad ahead, but top string Alex Gough, who celebrated his 35th birthday on the opening day of the tournament, had to resist a powerful fight back by Germany’s Stefan Leifels before winning 9-8 10-8 5-9 4-9 9-7. The eventual 2/1 win by Wales takes the eighth seeds through to a quarter-final against favourites England.
Quarter-finals:
[1] ENGLAND v [8] WALES
[4] AUSTRALIA v [5] CANADA
[3] FRANCE v [7] PAKISTAN
[2] EGYPT v [6] MALAYSIA
13th - 20th place play-offs:
[13/18] KUWAIT v [19/22] IRAN
[13/18] FINLAND v [13/18] SCOTLAND
[13/18] IRELAND v [19/22] USA
[11] NEW ZEALAND v [19/22] SPAIN
Official website: http://www.mtc.paksquash.com/