Malaysia Stun England In Major World Championship Upset

20 Aug 2014

Malaysia produced a shock 2/1 win over England in the quarter-finals of the WSF Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship at the Wanderers Sports Club in the Namibia capital Windhoek to deny the four-time champions a last four finish for the first time in the 34-year history of the biennial World Squash Federation championships.

England, the only nation to have reached at least the semi-finals in every championship since the inaugural competition in 1980, were the event's third seeds.

George Parker put England ahead with a 3/1 win over Mohd Syafiq Kamal - but Eain Yow Ng drew level for the fifth seeds when he beat Lyell Fuller 14-12, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9 in 68 minutes.

Malaysia then celebrated a sensational triumph when 17-year-old Darren Chan defeated Patrick Rooney 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 in 41 minutes.

Malaysia, who finished in a best-ever third place in 2006, now face Pakistan for a place in the final. Second seeds Pakistan, champions in 2008, eased to a 2/0 win over No7 seeds Finland.

There was a further significant quarter-final upset when Spain beat fourth seeds India 2/1. After the first two matches were shared, it was again the battle between the teams' third strings that settled the tie - when Barcelona-based 18-year-old Bernat Jaume defeated Indian Vijay Meena 11-7, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7 in 38 minutes to seal Spain's victory.

Spain, the sixth seeds who finished in 20th place in their last appearance in the championship and recorded a best-ever fifth place finish in 1998, will now face Egypt in the semi-finals.

Favourites and defending champions Egypt scored a resounding 3/0 win over 8th seeds Ireland.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [6] SPAIN
[2] PAKISTAN v [5] MALAYSIA

5th - 8th place play-offs:
[4] INDIA v [8] IRELAND
[3] ENGLAND v [7] FINLAND

9th - 12th place play-offs:
[13/15] FRANCE v [11] ISRAEL
[9] COLOMBIA v [12] USA

13th - 16th place play-offs:
[13/15] ARGENTINA v [16/18] KUWAIT
[10] CANADA v [19/21] SWEDEN

1st - 12th place play-off:
[8] IRELAND bt [13/15] FRANCE 2/0
Oisin Logan bt Benjamin Aubert 6-11, 17-15, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8 (74m)
Michael Craig bt Auguste Dussourd 13-11, 7-11, 11-3, 3-11, 11-7 (63m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] EGYPT bt [8] IRELAND 3/0
Omar Elatmas bt Michael Craig 11-9, 11-4, 11-3 (37m)
Youssef Aboul-Makarim bt David Ryan 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (30m)
Karim El Hammamy bt Oisin Logan 11-5, 5-11, 11-9
[6] SPAIN bt [4] INDIA 2/1
Edmon Lopez Moller lost to Kush Kumar 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 6-11 (73m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu bt Madhav Dhingra 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (31m)
Bernat Jaume bt Vijay Meena 11-7, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7 (38m)
[5] MALAYSIA bt [3] ENGLAND 2/1
Mohd Syafiq Kamal lost to George Parker 7-11, 12-10, 3-11, 9-11 (46m)
Eain Yow Ng bt Lyell Fuller 14-12, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9 (68m)
Darren Chan bt Patrick Rooney 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (41m)
[2] PAKISTAN bt [7] FINLAND 2/0
Tayyab Aslam bt Jami Aijanen 12-10, 11-7, 11-6 (30m)
Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari bt Kristian Rautiainen 11-4, 11-9, 11-8 (41m)

13th - 20th place play-offs:
[13/15] ARGENTINA bt [19/21] ZIMBABWE 3/0
Federico Cioffi bt Tafadzwa Mushunje 11-3, 11-2, 11-5 (19m)
Franco Andres Romiglio bt Innocent Mukumba 11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8 (47m)
Juan Segundo Barreyro bt Bryn Turk 11-2, 11-3 (11m)
[16/18] KUWAIT bt [16/18] NEW ZEALAND 2/1
Ali Alqallaf lost to Scott Galloway 1-11, 4-11, 4-11 (18m)
Khaled Al-Jenaidel bt Luke Jones 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (31m)
Mohammad Alterki bt Max Trimble 11-4, 11-5, 11-9 (27m)
[10] CANADA bt [16/18] SOUTH AFRICA 3/0
David Baillargeon bt Laurence Kuhn 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 (49m)
Carter Robitaille bt Aubrey Lawrence 11-6, 11-7, 15-13 (50m)
Michael Thompson bt Jean-Pierre van de Merwe 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 (20m)
[19/21] SWEDEN bt [13/15] GERMANY 2/1
Pontus Rengbo bt Lucas Wirths 13-11, 11-9, 11-5 (40m)
Tor Christoffersen bt Niklas Becher 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9
Nils Lindgren lost to Sean Redman 10-12 ret.