World Top 12 Finish Beckons For France In Namibia
18 Aug 2014
Victory by England over 10th seeds Canada in the final qualifying rounds of the WSF Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship in Namibia ensured a place for France in the play-offs for the top 12 positions in the biennial World Squash Federation event being staged at the Wanderers Sports Club in the country's capital Windhoek.
France, seeded in the 13/15 group, upset Canada on the opening day - and will now take on eighth seeds Ireland in the knockout stages, certain to improve on their 14th place finish in the 2012 championship in Qatar.
Egypt, the defending champions looking for a third successive title, suffered a scare in their final qualifying tie against 12th seeds USA in Pool A. Mohamed Elgawarhy put the favourites ahead with a 3/0 win over Mason Ripka - but USA drew level when 17-year-old Timothy Robert Brownell battled to a straight games win over Egyptian No3 Youssef Aboul-Makarim in just under an hour.
2013 world junior champion Karim El Hammamy steadied the Egyptian ship however when he beat USA's Max D Reed 11-9, 11-9, 13-11 in 41 minutes to maintain his country's unbeaten run in the qualifiers.
1st-12th place play-offs:
[1] EGYPT bye
[8] IRELAND v [13/15] FRANCE
[4] INDIA bye
[6] SPAIN v [11] ISRAEL
[5] MALAYSIA v [12] USA
[3] ENGLAND bye
[7] FINLAND v [9] COLOMBIA
[2] PAKISTAN bye
Final qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] EGYPT bt [12] USA 2/1
Mohamed Elgawarhy bt Mason Ripka 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 (24m)
Youssef Aboul-Makarim lost to Timothy Robert Brownell 11-13, 4-11, 11-13 (59m)
Karim El Hammamy bt Max D Reed 11-9, 11-9, 13-11 (41m)
[13/15] ARGENTINA bt [22/23] BOTSWANA 3/0
Federico Cioffi bt Theo Pelonomi 11-4, 11-2, 11-7 (21m)
Juan Segundo Barreyro bt Micky Joseph 11-1, 11-4, 11-2 (19m)
Ivan Caucich bt Tebogo Thabologo 11-5, 11-2, 11-3 (15m)
Final positions: 1 Egypt, 2 USA, 3 Argentina, 4 Botswana
Pool B:
[2] PAKISTAN bt [11] ISRAEL 3/0
Tayyab Aslam bt Daniel Poleshchuk 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (41m)
Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari bt Roee Avraham 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (17m)
Muhammad Asim Khan bt Noam Peer 11-3, 11-8, 11-2 (25m)
[13/15] GERMANY bt [22/23] NAMIBIA 3/0
Lucas Wirths bt Michael van Lingen 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 (21m)
Niklas Becher bt Le Hugo van Rooyen 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 (22m)
Yannick Omlor bt Gerhardus Lottering 11-2, 11-2, 11-7 (17m)
Final positions: 1 Pakistan, 2 Israel, 3 Germany, 4 Namibia
Pool C:
[3] ENGLAND bt [10] CANADA 3/0
George Parker bt Carter Robitaille 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (28m)
Lyell Fuller bt Jarryd Osborne 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 (26m)
James Evans bt Michael Thompson 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-7 (61m)
Final positions: 1 England, 2 France, 3 Canada
Pool D:
[4] INDIA bt [9] COLOMBIA 3/0
Kush Kumar bt Andres Felipe Herrera 12-10, 11-1, 11-7 (36m)
Madhav Dhingra bt Santiago Orozco 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (32m)
Vijay Meena bt Dairo Sandoval 11-5, 12-10, 9-11, 9-11, 14-12 (65m)
[16/18] KUWAIT bt [19/21] GUATEMALA 2/1
Ali Alqallaf lost to Ricardo Toscano 7-11, 7-11, 2-11 (25m)
Khaled Al-Jenaidel bt Qaini Bonilla 11-4, 11-7, 11-5 (30m)
Mohammad Alterki bt Alejandro Enriquez 11-2, 11-4, 11-6 (20m)
Final positions: 1 India, 2 Colombia, 3 Kuwait, 4 Guatemala
Pool E:
[16/18] SOUTH AFRICA bt [19/21] ZIMBABWE 3/0
Laurence Kuhn bt Tafadzwa Mushunje 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 (21m)
Aubrey Lawrence bt Innocent Mukumba 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (24m)
Jean-Pierre van de Merwe bt Bryn Turk 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 (17m)
[5] MALAYSIA bt [8] IRELAND 2/1
Mohd Syafiq Kamal lost to Michael Craig 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 9-11 (70m)
Eain Yow Ng bt David Ryan 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5 (50m)
Darren Chan bt Oisin Logan 12-10, 11-2, 11-7 (28m)
Final positions: 1 Malaysia, 2 Ireland, 3 South Africa, 4 Zimbabwe
Pool F:
[6] SPAIN bt [16/18] NEW ZEALAND 3/0
Edmon Lopez Moller bt Scott Galloway 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 (53m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu bt Luke Jones 11-3, 12-10, 11-3 (24m)
Bernat Jaume bt Chapman Kutia 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (27m)
[7] FINLAND bt [19/21] SWEDEN 3/0
Jami Aijanen bt Pontus Rengbo 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9 (40m)
Kristian Rautiainen bt Tor Christoffersen 11-9, 11-2, 11-0 (30m)
Miko Aijanen bt Nils Lindgren 11-5, 11-1, 11-7 (20m)
[6] SPAIN bt [7] FINLAND 3/0
Edmon Lopez Moller bt Jami Aijanen 13-11, 11-4, 5-11, 9-11, 11-5 (71m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu bt Kristian Rautiainen 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-1
Bernat Jaume bt Miko Aijanen 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-0, 11-5 (70m)
[16/18] NEW ZEALAND bt [19/21] SWEDEN 2/1
Luke Jones lost to Pontus Rengbo 8-11, 11-9, 5-11, 8-11 (39m)
Max Trimble bt Tor Christoffersen 16-14, 11-9, 11-9 (32m)
Chapman Kutia bt Alexander Lundqvist 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (26m)
Final positions: 1 Spain, 2 Finland, 3 New Zealand, 4 Sweden
