World Men's Team Squash Championship

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World Men's Team Squash Championship

Post by BSharma »

Twenty-nine countries will participate in the biggest squash event to be staged in India when ICL Squash Academy in Chennai will host the 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship from Dec. 6 -12, 2007.

Pool line-up with seeding in brackets:

POOL A: [1] EGYPT, [16] GERMANY, [17/24] FINLAND, [25/29] RUSSIA

POOL B: [2] ENGLAND, [15] HONG KONG, [17/24] SPAIN

POOL C: [3] FRANCE, [14] USA, [17/24] JAPAN, [25/29] VENEZUELA

POOL D: [4] AUSTRALIA, [13] NEW ZEALAND, [17/24] SCOTLAND

POOL E: [5] MALAYSIA, [12] SOUTH AFRICA, [17/24] KUWAIT, [25/29] SRI LANKA

POOL F: [6] CANADA, [11] IRELAND, [17/24] AUSTRIA

POOL G: [7] PAKISTAN, [10] INDIA, [17/24] KENYA, [25/29] BERMUDA

POOL H: [8] NETHERLANDS, [9] WALES, [17/24] SWEDEN, [25/29] CHINESE TAIPEI

Anyone in Chennai planning to go to see the event and report first-hand news?
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by BSharma »

The Chennai organizers have come up with a pretty good website and promise to provide live scores.

http://www.wmt2007.com/index.htm
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by BSharma »

21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007:

India's schedule

Dec 6, 2007 at 4 pm, Court 3: India vs Bermuda
Dec 7, 2007 at 12 noon, Center Court:  India vs Pakistan
Dec 8, 2007 at 4 pm, Court 4:  India vs Kenya
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by BSharma »

Results:

India bt Bermuda 3-0

- Saurav Ghosal def Chase Toogood 11-3 11-5 11-4 {24m}
- Siddharth Suchde def Mel Cairnes  11-1 11-2 11-5 {13m}
- Gaurav Nandrajog def Robert Maycock 11-3 11-10 {4-2} 11-8 {25m}

Germany bt Russia 3-0
Egypt bt Finland 3-0
Hong Kong beat Spain 3-0
Malaysia bt Kuwait 3-0
Ireland bt Austria 3-0
US bt Venezuela 3-0
Malaysia bt Kuwait 3-0
South Africa bt Sri Lanka 3-0
Pakistan bt Kenya 3-0
Wales bt Sweden 3-0
Netherlands bt Chinese Taipei 3-0
France bt Japan 3-0
New Zealand bt Scotland 3-0.
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by jaydeep »

But today 7th seed Pakistan was too tough for Indians, though Saurav tried superb comeback.

At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

(10) India  l (7) Pakistan 0-3

Siddharth Suchde l Farhan Mehboob 11-8 10-12 5-11 5-11
Saurav Ghosal l Amir Atlas Khan 10-12 6-11 13-11 11-6 9-11
Ritwik Bhattacharya l Mansoor Zaman 6-11 9-11 3-11
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by jaydeep »

At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

(10) India bt (17-24) Kenya 3 - 0

Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Hardeep Reel 11-4 13-11 12-10
Gaurav Nandrajog bt Otto Kwach 11-5 11-6 11-9
Siddharth Suchde bt Hartaj Bains 11-0 11-4 11-3

So with that group level round-robin finished ... India finished 2nd behind Pakistan in Group G ... From tomorrow knockout stage is begining ... India will play against Group H winner #9 Wales ... So having good opportunity to move in quarter-finals.
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by jaydeep »

At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

[PQF] (10) India bt (9) Wales 3-0

Ritwik Bhattacharya bt David Evans 11-6 11-10(3-1) 11-7 (38m)
Saurav Ghosal bt Alex Gough 10-11(2-4) 11-7 11-3 0-11 (Retd) (50m)
Siddharth Suchde bt Gethro Binns 11-8 7-11 11-2 (31m)

Impressive performance by our team to reach quarter-finals of World Men's Team tournament ... Now in QF we r facing formidable #1 team Egypt, who r entering with their strong lineup; WR #1 Amr Shabana, WR #8 Karim Darwish, WR #9 Wael El Hindi and WR #14 Mohammed Abbas ... So playing against these Egyptian players will be great experiance for our players; WR #47 Saurav Ghosal, WR #63 Ritwik Bhattacharya, WR #130 Gaurav Nandrajog, WR #156 Siddharth Suchde.

Updated scores.
Last edited by jaydeep on Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by gbelday »

Thanks Jaydeep.  I haven't been following Squash much in the past few years and these updates are great.

Whatever happened to the once mightly Pakistan?  I remember Jahanghir and Jansher Khan were #1 in the world.  Do they have any top players now?
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by BSharma »

gbelday wrote: Whatever happened to the once mightly Pakistan?  I remember Jahanghir and Jansher Khan were #1 in the world.  Do they have any top players now?
Pakistan still produces very good squash players, but they are no where close to their legendary players of the past.  The squash scene has shifted to Egypt where there are excellent training facilities; their players are hungry for success, and the future champions, both in men and women divisions, are being groomed by the bus loads. 
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by BSharma »

I remember writing somewhere in the forum about the reasons why Egypt now dominates squash, but I am too lazy to find where I wrote it.  Here is a link to a story of Egypt's successes in squash.

The following are some quotes from the newspaper article (see link below to read the entire article).
The Egyptian honed his skills at the El-Borolossy Squash Academy, a facility open to all in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. The academy was founded by Omar El-Borolossy, 31, who was once ranked 14th in the world. There are 230 junior players enrolled and they have access to 12 full-time coaches, plus a staff of fitness trainers, videographers and sports psychologists.
Like most Egyptians, Mr. Mosaad employs an attacking style that emphasizes shotmaking and quickness as opposed to power.
The Egyptian players train together even as professionals. This internecine competition along with a new emphasis on fitness has pushed the current crop of players to the forefront
The Egyptians have a simple formula for success - provide a great centralized training facility; have the best coaches and peripheral staff for the players; identify the strengths of the Egyptian players in general and build the game around them rather than trying to ape the western world; encourage the players to play and travel together; make squash facilities available to the common man.

Can AITA, AIFF, IHF, Indian Badminton Association, Indian shooting/archery/weight-lifting officials come up with a similar plan for India?  Do you think a similar plan would work in India?

Egyptians Have Cornered the Squash Racket
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by jaydeep »

Thanks Bhushan for this article ... Really eye-opener for our sports oficials, but I don't think anybody (officials) caring about this ... Thats sad part of it ... :(

In between India produced their best result reaching quarter-finals of Squash World Men's Team Championship ... Good to see our players used home advantage in their favour.
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by jaydeep »

At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

[QF] (10) India l (1) Egypt 0-3

Ritwik Bhattacharya l Wael Elhendy 10-11(1-3) 4-11 8-11 (44m)
Saurav Ghosal l Amr Shabana 5-11 8-11 9-11 (30m)
Siddharth Suchde vs Gethro Binns 6-11 10-11(1-3) 7-11 (38m)

So with that our impressive run in this World Men's team Championship is over ... But this is our best performance, now interesting to see where we finished in 5th-8th position matches.

Updated complete score.
Last edited by jaydeep on Tue Dec 11, 2007 4:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by gbelday »

Thanks Doc for the article. 
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by jaydeep »

At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

For 5th to 8th Positions -
(10) India l (6) Canada 1-2

Siddharth Suchde l Shawn De Lierre 3-11 10-11(1-3) 11-10(5-3) 8-11
Saurav Ghosal bt Shahier Razik 11-10(2-0) 9-11 11-10(2-0) 6-11 11-9
Ritwik Bhattacharya l Matthew Giuffre 8-11 6-11 11-6 7-11

So now India will play against Netherlands for 7th position ... Good win by Saurav against Canadian Shahier and also fighting performance by Ritwik and Siddhath.
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Re: 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship - Chennai; Dec 6-12, 2007

Post by karr »

Will try to post a few quick match reports from yesterday's action as well as today's.

I woke up yesterday with a rather blank day at my hands - my wife and son had proceeded to the Pune leg of our annual Seattle-Chennai-Pune piligramage - and I was left with multiple choices, stare at the idiot box top follow the 4th day's action between India-Pakistan, go the MA Chidamabaram stadium to follow the TN-HP match that was interestingly poised, OR to the ICL squash academy complex to see the World's premier Squash players in action. I settled for the last option, and boy was that a perfect start to the day or what.

A few words on the much acclaimed complex before I proceed to the match reports - the ICL-TNSRA complex is located in Egmore, by the Nehru Park. Egmore itself surprised me - so many nicely done apmt complexes, high rises and hotels. The one (and perhaps sole) good act by the state govt in the last few years has been the decision to invest time and money in all the state parks. Jusrt about every park that I have visited in Chennai have been a walker's delight and the Nehru Park from outside was extremely impressive - all the colour and varieties of well maintained plants and trees were indeed a treat for the otherewise cement-concrete-jungle weary eyes. The Complex is immediately behind the Park. The paint was fresh, the buildings were anew, the place was swarming with Cops idling at their chairs, huge banners were in place and the Flags of all participating nations hoist.

There are a couple of buildings, the main one hosts 4 traditional side by sides (like any any modern Squash complex in the US), but clearly the centre of attraction is Centre Court. It was truly breathtaking - all glass, extremely well let, and 360 degree viewing angles make it an absolute riveting piece of sporting modernity that we can be justiably proud of. There are seats spread all around and an elevated top view gallery that includes refrees, but also includes general spectator areas. I naively concluded that centre court ought to have been bigger with more spectator seating, but as the day went along was rather shocked at the poor turn outs. Admission was free and you had an opportunity to see world class talent at handshaking distance in an air-conditioned, well maintained complex, and yet ...
The restrooms (always a priority of mine) were a bit disappointing. Why can't we Indians ever get to place the importance that they deserve - even 5 star hotels are only average in this regard and it infuriates me. Well, not the ICL complex stunk it up here - just that the mens room could have been cleaner, bigger and better maintained throught out the day - this was the sole one for players and spectators alike and hence saw high traffic. Again, don't mistake this for a traditional lousy Indian toilet - it was clean and immaculate by Indian standards, but just average by those in developed countries.
Another grouse - the cafeteria (can barely be called one) is housed in a newly built 2 story building, the ground floor has a gym (had all the necessary and essential equipment, but rather smallish) on the top floor. It was essentially a hastily put up couple of stalls that server Burgers, fries, cold drinks, veg and non-veg. They really really ought to have done better here in terms of the spread - I don't expect Thali meals, but C'mon, the only Veg snack option is a Veg Burger.
Ok, clearly, I am carping much more than warranted. The complex is still one that's one of the better ones in Chennai. Its clean, and well maintained overall. The staff were all extremely courteous, the management of the event was no disaster, the courts are all in mint condition and Centre court is absolutely awesome.

Match Reports to follow ...
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