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According to the Hindu, Vikram had earlier lost twice to Todd Harrity but did not let that faze him and fought hard before losing. Aditya winning a close match helped India beat USA and top the group. It is nice to see an Indian team with tons of grit and determination. Let us hope that this team does better than their seeding.

Expected win by Vikram but very timely dominating win by Ravi Dixit to won tie for India ... Aditya Jagtap also fought hard in his loss ... So now we r facing 4th seed France in quarters ... Go boys.

At Junior Men's Squash World Championships 2008, Zurich, Switzerland (Team Event)

Pre-Quarter Finals -
(5) India bt (11) Australia 2-1

Vikram Malhotra bt Matthew Hopkin 9-7 9-6 9-6 (47m)
Aditya Jagtap l Jacob Alexander 3-9 6-9 9-7 4-9 (67m)
Ravi Dixit bt Joshua Larkin 9-2 9-1 9-0 (31m)

Quarter-Final  -
(5) India vs (4) France

Our Junior team in semis of Junior World Championship ... 


This is our best performance as first-time our boys reached semis of Junior Squash World Championship ... Vikram lost against top French player, but Aditya showed very strong performance to beat French No.2 ... But match of the tie was 3rd match, as Ravi fought back from 2 games down and was also 2-5 down in third game to create history ... Now we r facing 2nd seed Pakistan in semis.

At Junior Men's Squash World Championships 2008, Zurich, Switzerland (Team Event)

Quarter-Final
(5) India bt (4) France 2-1

Vikram Malhotra l Gregoire Marche 9-1 4-9 0-9 1-9
Aditya Jagtap bt Lucas Vauzelle 9-6 9-2 9-5
Ravi Dixit bt Petrucci Antoine Camille 8-10 2-9 9-7 9-1 9-2 (77m)

Semi-Final -
(5) India vs (2) Pakistan

Indian Coach Cyrus Poncha -
"Vikram Malhotra played a fabulous first game against Gregoire Marche but couldn't keep it up for the next three, and Aditya Jagtap was absolutely brilliant in beating Lucas Vauzelle in straight games.

In the decider Ravi Dixit was 0-2 and 2-5 down to Antoine-Camille Petrucci, but staged a remarkable comeback, levelling then taking the last two games comfortably.

This is our best ever performance at the World Junior Men's Championships - Vikram, Aditya, Ravi and Ramit have done us proud..... It feels great to hear the words 'India in the semi-finals' - for now we're just going to enjoy that!"

Wow, what a fantastic show from our boys in beating France and making the SF -- they have already gone one better than their seeding. What is amazing is the fighting spirit shown by all our players even in losses. Full credit to coach Cyrus!

But in semis Pakistan crushed us with very dominating performance ... Only Aditya Jagtap produced decent performance.

Still very creditable performance by our boys ... Tomorrow they will play for 3rd place (mostly) against England.

At Junior Men's Squash World Championships 2008, Zurich, Switzerland (Team Event)

Semi-Final -
(5) India l (2) Pakistan 0-3

Vikram Malhotra l Aamir Atlas Khan 0-9 3-9 0-9 (25m)
Aditya Jagtap l Waqar Mehboob 0-9 9-7 8-10 0-9 (43m)
Ravi Dixit l Mohd Shoaib Hassan 1-9 0-9 (16m)

Ouch! Crush is the right word.  So many 0-9 games?  It hurts a lot more when we lose to Pakistan.  Even though Pakistani stranglehold on the senior squash results has waned, I can't see how they can continue to produce top notch players and we cannot.  Any guesses?  Can't be just the tradition.

Patience Atithee. We are getting there slowly but steadily. I think we need to duplicate the Chennai squash academy in other parts of the country to have the numbers.

Suresh, how many academies does Pakistan have?  I thought there is on one run by Jehangir or Jansher Khan.  I can be patient but not when the puny country or the (Not so) Great Britain surpasses us.  Sorry.

Atithee wrote: Suresh, how many academies does Pakistan have?  I thought there is on run by Jehangir or Jansher Khan. 

I am still searching for the answer, but here is a link to Pakistani Squah history.

Pakistan Squash

Here is more detail history of Pakistan squash -

PAKISTAN SQUASH - THE KHAN SUPREMACY

Atithee,

I don't have a clue about Pakistani squash but do know that they have a long history to top-notch squash players. Squash is not a popular sport in India and the Chennai academy has single-handedly worked towards producing world class players. The output has been solid if not spectacular and this is the route India needs to take. The reason I asked you to be patient is that it appears to me that pretty soon we should see someone make a break into the top 20. Right now our best players (men and women) are around 35-45.

Suresh

Vikram Malhotra gave positive start with winning against England No. 1 player ... Then Ravi started well winning first game but then English players didn't gave chance and won 3rd position in this Junior Men's Squash World Championship.

At Junior Men's Squash World Championships 2008, Zurich, Switzerland (Team Event)

For 3rd Place -
(5) India l (3) Great Britain 1-2

Vikram Malhotra bt Joe Lee 9-6 9-0 0-9 9-3 (37m)
Ravi Dixit l Alex Ingham 9-4 3-9 2-9 6-9 (70m)
Aditya Jagtap l Adrian Waller 0-9 4-9 4-9 (20m)

British Junior Open is going on ... And our 2 players r already in the final and 1 in the semis.

In U15 boys section, Mahesh Mangaonkar reached into final scoring wins over talented Egyptian boys ... And Kush Kumar in the final beating top-seed Egyptian Omar El Atmas in straight games ... Superb win by Kush. ... Kush Kumar showing good consistency in his performance, last week he won the Scottish Junior Open 2008 (on 30th December) without dropping any game ... Last year he had excellent year where he won titles at the Malaysian Junior Open, Penang Junior Open and National Junior (of course all boys U13).

Edited - Kush Kumar in the final beating top-seed Egyptian Omar El Atmas in straight games ... Superb win by Kush.

At Men's British Junior U19 Open, Sheffield, England

[R1] Sami Johnson (IND) l (9/16) Chris Fuller (ENG) 5-11 4-11 3-11 (18m)

At Men's British Junior U17 Open, Sheffield, England

[R1] (5/8) Aditya Jagtap (IND) bye
[R2] (5/8) Aditya Jagtap (IND) bt George Wileman (ENG) 11-7 11-6 11-8 (31m)

[R3] (5/8) Aditya Jagtap (IND) l (9/16) Charles Sharpes (ENG) 11-9 6-11 6-11 7-11 (47m)

At British Junior U15 Open, Sheffield, England

Girls -
[R1] (5/8) Anaka Alankamony (IND) bye
[R1] (9/16) Saumya Karki (IND) bye
[R1] Sachika Balvani (IND) bye
[R1] Diya Kumar (IND) l Maria Martinez (MEX) 6-11 7-11 10-12 (19m)

[R2] (5/8) Anaka Alankamony (IND) bt Marin Katsumata (JPN) 11-0 11-4 11-0 (11m)
[R2] (9/16) Saumya Karki (IND) bt Millie Pughe (ENG) 9-11 11-2 11-3 11-7 (24m)
[R2] Sachika Balvani (IND) l (5/8) Nada Al Kalaawy (EGY) 6-11 9-11 2-11 (18m)

[R3] (5/8) Anaka Alankamony (IND) bt (9/16) Brogan Lane (ENG) 11-3 14-12 11-6 (21m)
[R3] (9/16) Saumya Karki (IND) bt (5/8) Haidi Lala (EGY) 11-7 11-7 12-10 (23m)

[QF] (9/16) Saumya Karki (IND) l (1) Kanzy El Defrawy (EGY) 5-11 11-13 7-11 (20m)
[QF] (5/8) Anaka Alankamony (IND) l (2) Nour El Sherbeny (EGY) 3-11 6-11 6-11 (17m)

At British Junior U13 Open, Sheffield, England

Girls -
[R1] (3/4) Malhorta Pankhuri (IND) bt Jessica Winder (ENG) 11-9 11-6 11-8 (18m)

[R2] (3/4) Malhorta Pankhuri (IND) l (9/16) Radwa Ade (EGY) 11-7 7-11 7-11 12-14 (31m)

Boys -
[R1] (5/8) Kush Kumar (IND) bye
[R1] (17/32) Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) bt Jack Payne (ENG) 11-3 11-7 13-11 (15m)

[R2] (5/8) Kush Kumar (IND) bt (17/32) James Peach (ENG) 11-4 11-7 9-11 10-12 11-3
[R2] (17/32) Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) l (5/8) Man Ho Tse (HKG) 3-11 5-11 4-11 (20m)

[R3] (5/8) Kush Kumar (IND) bt (9/16) Cheuk Hin Lo (HKG) 11-2 11-6 3-11 11-7 (23m)
[QF] (5/8) Kush Kumar (IND) bt (3/4) Daniel Polichuk (ISR) 8-11 8-11 11-5 11-9 11-9

[SF] (5/8) Kush Kumar (IND) bt (1) Omar El Atmas (EGY) 11-7 11-7 11-7 (25m)

At Boy's British Junior U15 Open, Sheffield, England

[R1] (3/4) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Sebastien Dangond (COL) 11-8 11-6 11-6 (20m)
[R1] (17/32) Deepak Mishra (IND) bt Tomotaka Endo (JPN) 9-11 11-4 11-3 11-6 (36m)
[R1] Rahil Fazelbhoy (IND) l (9/16) Matthew Sidaway (ENG) 5-11 6-11 5-11 (18m)

[R2] (3/4) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt (17/32) Hamish Falconer (ENG) 11-1 11-5 11-6 (18m)
[R2] (17/32) Deepak Mishra (IND) l (9/16) Matthew Sidaway (ENG) 10-12 3-11 9-11 (29m)

[R3] (3/4) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt (9/16) Taminda Gata-Aura (ENG) 11-4 11-3 11-3 (14m)
[QF] (3/4) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt (5/8) Osama Khalid Khalifa (EGY) 11-1 12-10 11-9 (32m)

[SF] (3/4) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt (5/8) Mazen Gamal (EGY) 7-11 11-2 11-9 11-4 (36m)

[F] (3/4) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) vs (2) Oliver Holland (ENG)

At Boy's British Junior U15 Open, Sheffield, England

[F] (3/4) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt (2) Oliver Holland (ENG) 11-5 7-11 11-5 12-10 (40m)

Mahesh Mangaonkar captured British Junior U15 title defeating local boy in a high-quality match ... This was first Boys title for India at British Junior Open since Saurav Ghosal won the U19 title in 2004 ... Oliver Holland was also England's first boys finalist after three years ... As per report, in this high quality match both players were moving and hitting superbly ... Mangaonkar's played steadier game, other hand Holland had little higher unforced errors but this was quality match. In the fourth game after 7-all Oliver take 7-10 lead but Mahesh played an inch-perfect boast to won first point, second he won on an unforced error from Oliver and Mahehs won the third point after a huge rally when Holland's boast just clipping the tin ... Thats brought them to 10-all ... Then keeping momentum with himself Mahesh played another perfect boast to reach match ball and then finished off another lung-busting long rally with a leaping volley kill.


At Boy's British Junior U13 Open, Sheffield, England

[F] (5/8) Kush Kumar (IND) l (9/16) Amr Aboul Souad (EGY) 7-11 11-7 11-9 9-11 7-11 (41m)

Kush lost in an exciting Boys U13 final ... As per report, Kush Kumar played better in the first 4 games when he take lead every time but Amr showed excellent fightback ability everytime ... Kush led the first 7-3 but lost it 7-11, then in second he led 7-3 and held on to take it 11-9, did exactly the same in the third to won that game and In fourth game he captured yet another 7-3 lead to lose that 9-11 ... But in the final game Egyptian started better, opening up a 1-4 lead and kept the lead until the final shot ... Still very creditable performance by Kush reaching final at British Junior U13 Open.

Dipika lost in her final.

http://www.squashsite.co.uk/bjo/today.htm

Egypt won 6 titles. India and Malaysia took the remaining 2.