South Africa Shock Malaysia In World Qualifiers
14 Aug 2016
South Africa, the 17th seeds, caused a major upset on the final day of qualifying in the VDC Dental-Care WSF Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biała when they beat Malaysia to deny the seventh seeds a place in the last 12 of the biennial World Squash Federation event for the first time since 1984.
It was one of the final ties in an intense day of action which led to the line-up for the knockout stage of the tournament in which favourites and defending champions Egypt are looking to become the first nation in the event's 36-year history to win the title four times in a row.
Underdogs South Africa, who finished in 17th place two years ago, took the lead in the final tie in Pool F when squad No.1 Richard-John Kuhn beat Ong Sai Hung 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7.
But it was the country's unranked second string Callan Mackenzie Hall who ensured South Africa's place in the top 12 for the first time since 2006 when he despatched Malaysia's world-ranked Mohd Farez Izwan 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 in 37 minutes.
South Africa will now face Australia for a place in the quarter-finals after the 10th seeds beat Guatemala 2/1 to finish in second place in Pool C.
1st - 12th place play-offs:
[1] EGYPT bye
[8] CANADA v [9] NEW ZEALAND
[5] ENGLAND v [11] HONG KONG CHINA
[4] INDIA bye
[3] FRANCE bye
[6] USA v [12] JORDAN
[17] SOUTH AFRICA v [10] AUSTRALIA
[2] PAKISTAN bye
Official event website: wsfworldjuniors.org/
Twitter: @WSFworldjuniors
Final qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] EGYPT bt [12] JORDAN 2/1
Youssef Ibrahim Abdallah lost to Mohammad Al Sarraj 10-12, 11-9, 7-11, 15-17 (52m)
Marwan Tarek Abdelhamid bt Hamza Alzubaidi 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 (33m)
Karim Magdy bt Ibrahim Abdulaban 11-1, 11-3, 11-3 (22m)
[12] JORDAN bt [14] SWITZERLAND 3/0
Mohammad Al Sarraj bt Roman Allinckx 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (40m)
Hamza Alzubaidi bt Christoph Zust 4-11, 14-12, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8 (49m)
Abedalkader Jeitan bt Luca Zatti 14-12, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7
Final positions: 1 Egypt, 2 Jordan, 3 Switzerland
Pool B:
[11] HONG KONG CHINA bt [15] GERMANY 3/0
Ng Ka Yiu bt Tobias Weggen 11-4, 11-6, 11-7 (25m)
Lai Cheuk Nam Matthew bt Sean Redmen 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (29m)
Chan Wui Ki Lincoln bt Robin Ebert 5-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-2, 13-11 (49m)
Final positions: 1 Pakistan, 2 Hong Kong China, 3 Germany
Pool C:
[10] AUSTRALIA bt [13] GUATEMALA 2/1
Alex Eustace lost to Junior Enríquez Franco 10-12, 9-11, 6-11 (50m)
Joseph White bt Ricardo Toscano 11-4, 6-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 (60m)
William Curtis bt Roberto Urruela Bowen 11-0, 11-5, 11-2 (17m)
Final positions: 1 France, 2 Australia, 3 Guatemala
Pool D:
[4] INDIA bt [21] POLAND 3/0
Velavan Senthilkumar bt Mateusz Osojca 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (20m)
Abhay Singh bt Mateusz Szewczyk 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 (23m)
Ranjit Singh bt Filip Jarota 11-6, 12-10, 11-4 (25m)
[9] NEW ZEALAND bt [18] ARGENTINA 3/0
Jamie Oakley bt Juan Barreyro 12-10, 11-6, 11-13, 11-3 (48m)
Scott Galloway bt Rodrigo Bonzo 11-7, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7 (39m)
Sam Sayes bt Jeremías Azaña 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
Final positions: 1 India, 2 New Zealand, 3 Argentina, 4 Poland
Pool E:
[5] ENGLAND bt [8] CANADA 2/1
Charlie Lee bt Michael Mehl 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 (25m)
Kyle Finch bt Rahul Sehrawat 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (26m)
Harry Falconer lost to Matthew Henderson 16-18, 11-3, 8-11, 11-3, 11-13 (48m)
[16] ISRAEL bt [20] ZIMBABWE 3/0
Nadav Raziel bt Callum Lawton 11-2, 11-2, 11-6 (28m)
Ido Burstein bt Luke Mannion 11-2, 11-2, 11-5 (28m)
Nadav Mizrachi bt Nicholas Joughin 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (24m)
[8] CANADA bt [16] ISRAEL 3/0
Michael Mehl bt Nadav Raziel 11-8, 11-7, 12-10 (33m)
Rahul Sehrawat bt Ido Burstein 12-10, 11-8, 11-2 (33m)
Matthew Henderson bt Nadav Mizrachi 11-8, 11-2, 11-7
[5] ENGLAND bt [20] ZIMBABWE 3/0
Kyle Finch bt Luke Mannion 11-1, 11-1, 11-2 (18m)
Harry Falconer bt Nicholas Joughin 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (17m)
Adam Corcoran bt Ethan Alfalfa Porter 11-2, 11-5, 11-4 (18m)
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Canada, 3 Israel, 4 Zimbabwe
Pool F:
[17] SOUTH AFRICA bt [19] SPAIN 3/0
Richard-John Kuhn bt Nilo Vidal 11-3, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7 (43m)
Callan Mackenzie Hall bt Sergio Garcia Pollan 11-13, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 (50m)
Adam Shean bt Enrique Garcia 11-7, 11-2, 12-10 (30m)
[6] USA bt [7] MALAYSIA 2/1
Andrew Douglas lost to Eain Yow Ng 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 14-12, 8-11 (49m)
Spencer Lovejoy bt Ong Sai Hung 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 (39m)
Samuel Scherl bt Mohd Farez Izwan 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)
[6] USA bt [19] SPAIN 3/0
Spencer Lovejoy bt Nilo Vidal 11-2, 11-6, 11-3 (23m)
Samuel Scherl bt Enrique Garcia 11-4, 11-3, 11-2 (27m)
Gabriel Morgan bt Jesús Ángel Gallardo 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (20m)
[17] SOUTH AFRICA bt [7] MALAYSIA 2/1
Richard-John Kuhn bt Ong Sai Hung 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7 (52m)
Callan Mackenzie Hall bt Mohd Farez Izwan 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (37m)
Adam Shean lost to Marcus Sim Wei Jie 1-11, 2-11, 9-11 (22m)
Final positions: 1 USA, 2 South Africa, 3 Malaysia, 4 Spain