US Men Play India For 7th Place Following Disappointing Loss To Malaysia
by Ted Gross for DailySquashReport.com
August 27, 2011 - For the US men’s team, which came into the world championships seeded eighth, a seventh-place finish today against India will mark a solid week-long performance, but not the outstanding performance the US players and coaches were hoping for and likely expecting.
Yesterday’s defining loss to Malaysia was difficult not only because it was a winnable match against a strong but not quite elite opponent, but because of how the individual matches unfolded.
In eerily similar scenarios, #2 Chris Gordon and #1 Julian Illingworth each split their first two games against solid opponents and were seemingly poised to engage in the lengthy, gritty, in-the-trenches battles in front of cheerleading teammates and coaches that are a hallmark of world team championship play-downs.
Instead, for whatever reason, Gordon and Illingworth each quietly lost both their third and their fourth games, and their matches, by identical 11-4 and 11-4 scores.
Clearly, overall fatigue may have been a factor, since a lingering lower-back injury to Gilly Lane has forced the top two Americans to play a match every day in these championships, with no days off.
Still, by contrast, it was hard not to admire the effort turned in last night by France’s #3 player, a journeyman by the name of Mathieu Castagnet, in the deciding match against World #9 Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt.
Castagnet, who lost five times in first rounds of PSA tournaments this year, including a first round qualifying loss, and who is nearly 50 ranking spots behind El Shorbagy, gave his teammates and his country everything he had before losing in an epic 5-game battle that lasted 91minutes.
RESULTS: US versus Malaysia:
#2: Ong Bee Hee beats Chris Gordon 9-11 11-8 11-4 11-4 (41 minutes)
#1 Mohamed Azlan beats Julian Illingworth 6-11 11-2 11-4 11-4 (33 minutes)
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