After straightforward victories in today’s semi-finals of the WSF Men’s World Junior Team Squash Championship in India, top seeds Egypt and third seeds England will contest Sunday’s final at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai for the fifth time since 1994 – England marking their first appearance in the final since 2002 and Egypt celebrating their eighth in a row.
Egypt, boasting both finalists from last week’s world individual championship, brushed aside first-time semi-finalists Czech Republic, the sixth seeds – claiming victory after just 54 minutes of playing time. It was left to newly-crowned World Junior Champion Mostafa Asal (pictured above in semi-final action) to clinch their appearance in the final after beating Czech number two Ondrej Vorlicek 11-8, 11-9, 11-2.
“We’re very pleased to be in the final,” said Egyptian coach Ahmed Matany. “The players are very disciplined and are working hard.
“I’m very proud of this generation, they all have the talent and the potential to become the next generation of senior champions, but for now we have to concentrate on winning this title. It would be our first back-to-back treble so it’s very important to keep our focus on the coming final.”
Four-time champions England also continued their impressive progress as they made quick work of a USA team that recovered from the brink of defeat yesterday to beat second seeds Canada. There was to be no recovery this time, as Englishmen Nick Wall and James Wyatt (pictured above in semi-final action against USA’s Thomas Rosini) both won in comfortable style – ensuring the nation’s first final since 2002, also in Chennai!
“I’m happy with how everyone played, again,” said England coach Lee Drew (pictured below, right, with the jubilant squad). “They played well tonight and the team spirit has been brilliant throughout. So many teams are so close, we’ve talked about how important it is to do the right thing on the day and to keep concentrating throughout the entire match, and we’ve managed to do that very well every match so far.
“Everyone is very relaxed, they’re a great bunch of players to work with and they deserve the chance to give it a real go against Egypt tomorrow.”
In the 9/12 place playoff semi-finals, New Zealand won another dramatic tie to beat hosts India, while Canada recovered from yesterday’s disappointment to see off title-holders Pakistan in the 5/8 place play-offs.
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