Malaysia & England To Contest Historic World Championship Final by Howard Harding December 5, 2014
- After two dramatic semi-finals in the SHOP.CA WSF Women's World Team
Squash Championship today in Canada, second seeds England will face
third seeds Malaysia in Saturday's final of the biennial World Squash
Federation championship at White Oaks Conference Resort & Spa in
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
In the biggest upset of the championship, Malaysia - bronze medallists
in the past four events - reached the final for the first time after a
sensational 2/0 upset over defending champions Egypt, the favourites
who boasted a squad of four players in the world's top ten.
Former champions England claimed a new record 11th successive
appearance in the final after surviving 2/1 against Hong Kong China -
semi-finalists for the first time ever.
In a battle on the all-glass showcourt described by event MC Vanessa
Atkinson, the former world champion, as "the match of the tournament",
underdogs Malaysia took the lead when world number one Nicol David beat
Egypt's world No.3 Raneem El Welily 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9 in 54
minutes.
"She's so on the ball - I had to work really hard," said the jubilant
David who extended her unbeaten record in the event since 2004 to 32
matches. "I'm just so pleased to get a point for Malaysia.
"I took some time off after Macau to refresh and regroup - and I'm
really enjoying the game now. Winning for Malaysia is a great feeling -
I put my heart and soul into it."
David then sat back as team-mate Low Wee Wern, a fellow Penangite who
is ranked seven in the world, took on Egypt's Nour El Sherbini, the
world No.4 from Alexandria who boasted a 2-1 head-to-head record over
the Malaysian.
After the first two games were shared, Wee Wern came out fighting in
the third to reclaim the lead after dropping just two points.
But former world junior champion El Sherbini refused to buckle and took
the fourth, and led 3-0, 5-3 and 7-6 in the decider. Wee Wern pulled
back three points for 9-7 to lead for only the second time in the match
- but El Sherbini rallied to bring the score to nine-all.
At the first match-ball for Wern (pictured above with El Sherbini), it
was a stroke which finally signalled the historic win for Malaysia as
Wern raised her arms in victory and quickly became engulfed by her
ecstatic team-mates.
"It's amazing to be in the final for the first time," said an
overwhelmed Wee Wern after her 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-9 triumph in
86 minutes. "The Egyptian girls really gave it their all.
"I am just so pleased for Nicol. For all these years, she has won for
us - and the rest of the team have let her down. Now we have finally
done it for her.
"Nicol is not just a role model for me, but a good friend too - and
this is the first time I've given her the support she deserves.
"This win is huge - our biggest team success ever - it's massive.
"But it's not over yet," added the 24-year-old as her mind turned to the final.
Egyptian team coach Omar Elborolossy was not too despondent: "I'm so
proud of my girls - they gave their best efforts. Nicol played one of
the best matches I have ever seen and Wee Wern definitely played her
best match ever.
"The four girls played very good squash - I can't complain."
England suffered a scare in the first of the semi-finals when Alison
Waters, the world No5 from London, went down to Joey Chan in her first
defeat in eight meetings to the Hong Kong 23-year-old ranked 18 places
lower.
A commanding performance by Laura Massaro saw England take the lead
when the world number two beat Annie Au, ranked nine in the world,
11-7, 13-11, 11-4 in 35 minutes - saving four game-balls in the second
to go through unscathed.
"I didn't get off to a good start this week - I think I was just
lacking match practice - but I worked really hard with the coaches,"
said Massaro after her win. "You regroup and do what's needed to get
back into the best possible shape to help the rest of the team.
"The middle section of the second game today was definitely a turning
point - you can't go from 7-3 up to 7-10 down without refocussing and I
was glad to take it. I was determined to stick to my game-plan for the
third game."
Underdog Chan took the opening game against Waters, but the Londoner
fought back to draw level. Left-hander Chan played the game of her
life, however, to reclaim the advantage and close out the match 11-4,
8-11, 11-9, 11-3 to force an unexpected decider.
"Every time I play Alison, I know it will be a fast game and the
rallies will go on and on," said Chan after her shock win. "I had to
keep her behind me. She can so easily dominate the 'T', my game plan
was to try and move her around. Luckily I didn't make many mistakes
today - I have made too many errors against her in the past.
"It's probably my best ever win - and it was good to do it for my team."
Event newcomer Sarah-Jane Perry, England's world No.17, took to the
court against Hong Kong's Tong Tsz-Wing, ranked 31 places lower, for
the decider. After an incredible first game in which Perry squandered a
10-3 lead to lose 12-10, the 24-year-old from Kenilworth clinched a
10-12, 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 victory.
"Firstly, we'll need to improve tomorrow," said England coach David
Campion as he began his assessment of the tie. "Laura was immaculate -
she really showed she's a world-class athlete and got us off to a great
start.
"The next match didn't quite go according to plan," admitted Campion.
"It was not only Sarah-Jane's first time in the England team in this
event, but her first decider - and that was no easy task. She didn't
play her best squash, but under the circumstances it was a good job
done. That match will serve her well in her future career.
"We're happy to be in the final for the 11th time in a row - but we
will need to improve on our performance if we're to be successful
tomorrow."
Perry (pictured above with Tong) added: "I played really well to get up
to 10-3 - but I let the pace drop and all of a sudden she was in front.
The next time I went 10 up or something, I just made sure I finished it
off!
"I haven't ever played a decider for England in any event so there was
massive pressure. And the fact that it was a semi which we needed to
win to get into a record 11th final added to the pressure. But we've
got a good team behind us.
"Even though Tong is ranked lower than me, I thought she played really
well - and when that final ball died, I felt really happy."
France and USA will battle for fifth place after victories over
Australia and Ireland, respectively. Comprehensive wins by top two
Amanda Sobhy and Olivia Blatchford ensured at least a best finish for
sixth seeds USA since 1983, if not a best outcome of all-time.
"Our junior programme has been getting stronger and stronger since 2011
when our girls came second in the world juniors," said 37-year-old team
player/coach Natalie Grainger. "This group has been together for a long
time now - with Amanda and Olivia leading the way.
"My job is to shore things up at the bottom end - I will stay on as
long as I can and the job will be complete when other girls take over!
"We're going to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time now."
RESULTS: SHOP.CA WSF Women's World Team Championship, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada
Semi-finals: (all ties played in team order 1, 2, 3)
[3] MALAYSIA bt [1] EGYPT 2/0
Nicol David bt Raneem El Welily 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9 (54m)
Low Wee Wern bt Nour El Sherbini 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-9 (86m)
[2] ENGLAND bt [4] HONG KONG CHINA 2/1
Laura Massaro bt Annie Au 11-7, 13-11, 11-4 (35m)
Alison Waters lost to Joey Chan 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 3-11 (43m)
Sarah-Jane Perry bt Tong Tsz-Wing 10-12, 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 (40m)
5th - 8th place play-offs:
[5] FRANCE bt [7] AUSTRALIA 2/0
Camille Serme bt Rachael Grinham 11-7, 11-1, 11-5 (22m)
Coline Aumard bt Lisa Camilleri 11-6, 11-8, 14-12 (33m)
[6] USA bt [8] IRELAND 3/0
Amanda Sobhy bt Madeline Perry 11-1, 11-3, 11-3 (20m)
Olivia Blatchford bt Aisling Blake 11-3, 11-9, 12-10 (31m)
Sabrina Sobhy bt Laura Mylotte 11-4, 11-7 (12m)
9th - 12th place play-offs:
[9] NEW ZEALAND bt [12] SOUTH AFRICA 2/0
Amanda Landers-Murphy bt Siyoli Waters 11-7, 12-14, 11-6, 11-3 (46m)
Megan Craig bt Milnay Louw 11-9, 11-4 ret. (17m)
[10] WALES bt [11] CANADA 2/1
Tesni Evans bt Samantha Cornett 7-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-4 (56m)
Deon Saffery bt Danielle Letourneau 9-11, 13-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5 (62m)
Jennifer Haley lost to Nikki Todd 6-11, 5-11 (12m)
13th - 16th place play-offs:
[13/16] MEXICO bt [13/16] GERMANY 2/1
Samantha Teran bt Franziska Hennes 11-4, 11-6, 11-2 (20m)
Nayelly Hernandez lost to Annika Wiese 8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11 (41m)
Karla Urrutia bt Nicole Fries 11-9, 11-3, 11-8 (21m)
[13/16] INDIA bt [13/16] COLOMBIA 2/0
Joshana Chinappa bt Catalina Pelaez 11-1, 11-5, 13-11 (20m)
Anaka Alankamony bt Laura Tovar 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (26m)
