It’s semi finals day at the 2023 SDAT WSF Squash World Cup!
The first semi final of the relaunched event – which is back after a 12-year-hiatus and features exciting new changes including gender-balanced teams of two men and two women, playing games to seven points, and sudden death game balls at 6-6 – takes place at 15:30 at Chennai’s Express Avenue Mall.
We’ll be bringing the tie results and reactions here, while you can follow live scores on tournament software and watch live and free on worldsquash.tv and the Olympic Channel (worldwide) and JioCinema (India).
Schedule: SDAT WSF Squash World Cup – Semi Finals: To be played 16 June
15:30 [1] Egypt 4-0 [3] Japan
18:00 [4] Malaysia 3-0 [2] India
Defending champs Egypt storm past Japan to reach final
Defending champions Egypt are through to the final of the SDAT WSF Squash World Cup after a 4-0 win against No.3 seeds Japan.
Karim El Hammamy gave his young teammates a welcome confidence boost with a comfortable 3-0 win over Tomotaka Endo in the first match to give Egypt the lead.
In the second match, Fayrouz Aboelkheir put in her best performance of the tournament as she stunned tournament top-ranked player Satomi Watanabe in straight games
Aboelkheir has struggled at times in Chennai this week and looked shaken by a 3-2 loss to Aira Azman yesterday, but today made the most confident of starts against Japan’s Satomi Watanabe, storming into a 2-0 lead with 7-5, 7-2 wins before seeing out the match with another 7-2 victory.
Egypt’s march towards the final was briefly derailed when the impressive Ryunosuke Tsukue took a 1-0 lead against World No.21 Aly Abou Eleinen.
The 21-year-old rallied, though, clinching the second game on a sudden death tiebreak before putting the contest beyond all doubt with 7-5, 7-6 wins, with the rising star saving three game balls in the last game.
Both sides opted to play the dead rubber, with Kenzy Ayman beating Akari Midorikawa 2-0 in a best-of-three.
Afterwards, Aboelkheir said: “I want to thank my coach, Mohamed Elkeiy. He’s the one behind it all. Before the match, he told me just make the game simple to keep my concentration and focus through the whole match. Also, I learned from yesterday I have to follow the coaching rather than just follow my own plan. I’m really happy to have another big win and credit to Satomi because she’s a really good player.
“This is a huge win and it’s way more huge because I did it with my team. I’m really happy to get the win for my team today.“
Result: SDAT WSF Squash World Cup Semi Final
[1] Egypt 4-0 [3] Japan
Karim El Hammamy beat Tomotaka Endo 3-0: 7-1, 7-6, 7-2 (21m)
Fayrouz Aboelkheir beat Satomi Watanabe 3-0: 7-5, 7-2, 7-2 (20m)
Aly Abou Eleinen beat Ryunosuke Tsukue 3-1: 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 (36m)
Kenzy Ayman beat Akari Midorikawa 2-0: 7-3, 7-4 (07m)
No.4 seeds Malaysia stun hosts
In the shock of the tournament, No.4 seeds Malaysia dumped India out of the Squash World Cup with a 3-0 win over No.2 seeds India.
Malaysia took the lead in the first match, with Sai Hung Ong saving sudden death match ball and then converting in the fifth game to edge a gripping encounter with Chennai’s Abhay Singh.
18-year-old Aira Azman continued to inflict hurt as she took a 2-0 lead in match two against Joshna Chinappa, who had proved the hero yesterday as she led India’s fightback against Japan.
Chinappa pulled one game back, but eventually went down 7-4 in the fourth to leave India deep in the mire.
After Singh and Chinappa’s defeats, India needed wins from both Saurav Ghosal and Tanvi Khanna to have any hope of progressing on games won.
This task was made even more difficult when World No.134 Darren Pragasam took a shock 1-0 lead against World No.19 Ghosal.
The 36-year-old came storming back in the second game to check Malaysia’s momentum, with Ghosal – sporting heavy strapping to his right knee – levelling with a 7-2 win.
Despite the win, Ghosal appeared to be struggling, and Pragasam took full advantage to move into the lead with a 7-6 win in game three before breaking Indian hearts with a 7-5 win in the fourth game to send Malaysia into the final.
Afterwards, Pragasam said: “I know the fans wanted an India win today but I’m so happy to see so many people come out and support our sport. It’s amazing, thank you so much.
“Saurav’s someone I’ve looked up to since forever. He’s one of the greatest Asian players and Indian players.
“I saw he was struggling a bit and I said ‘I have a chance today’ but hats off to him, he fought to end even though he was hurting. You guys have to be really proud of him.”
Result: SDAT WSF Squash World Cup Semi Final:
[4] Malaysia 3-0 [2] India
Sai Hung Ong beat Abhay Singh 3-2: 7-4, 5-7, 1-7, 7-1, 7-6 (37m)
Aira Azman beat Joshna Chinappa 3-1: 7-3, 7-3, 5-7, 7-4 (21m)
Darren Pragasam beat Saurav Ghosal 3-1: 7-5, 2-7, 7-6, 6-5 (25m)
Xin Ying Yee vs Tanvi Khanna – match withdrawn