Pakistan, Malaysia & England Celebrate Regional Successes by Howard Harding 17 May 2016
- While Pakistan and Malaysia triumphed in the men's and women's Asian
Team Squash Championships, respectively, in Chinese Taipei, England
recorded an unexpected double in Poland where the 44th edition of the
European Team Championships were held for the first time.
Second
seeds Pakistan secured the men's Asian title for the fourth time in a
row after wins by Farhan Mehboob and Farhan Zaman in the final against
Hong Kong China, the favourites who were making their first appearance
in the final since 1996.
Meanwhile, bronze medallists Japan were celebrating their first ever finish in the last four.
There
was also a successful title defence in the women's championship - but
Malaysia achieved their success as third seeds, without the services of
event veterans Nicol David, the former world number one, and Low Wee
Wern, a world number five.
Led by sisters Delia Arnold and
Rachel Arnold, Malaysia topped the Pool B qualifying group against
expectations after upsetting India - then repeated their success
against the second seeds in the final with wins by Sivasangari
Subramaniam and Delia Arnold.
Firm favourites England
dropped just a sole match en-route to the women's European championship
final - then, in the third successive final against France, despatched
the No.2 seeds 2/0 following wins by former world No.1 Laura Massaro
and Victoria Lust to claim the title for the 38th time.
After
losing to France in the 2015 final, England were underdogs in the men's
event in Warsaw. But the two countries lined up in the final for the
9th successive year - and the second seeds triumphed 2/1 after
victories by Chris Simpson and Tom Richards, and a significant game win
by James Willstrop in his 3/1 defeat to career-long rival Gregory
Gaultier.
A 3/1 win over Germany in the third-place play-off saw Scotland record their highest finish since 1999.
RESULTS: Asian Team Championships, New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei
Men's final:
[2]
PAKISTAN bt [1] HONG KONG CHINA 2/0 (Farhan Mehboob bt Tang Ming Hong
11-4, 11-7, 11-4; Farhan Zaman bt Max Lee 9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9)
Bronze medals: [5] JAPAN & [4] INDIA
Women's final:
[3]
MALAYSIA bt [2] INDIA 2/0 (Sivasangari Subramaniam bt Sachika Ingale
11-7, 11-6, 12-10; Delia Arnold bt Joshna Chinappa 9-11, 13-11, 11-8,
11-9)
Bronze medals: [1] HONG KONG CHINA & [4] JAPAN
European Team Championships, Warsaw, Poland
Men's Final:
[2]
ENGLAND bt [1] FRANCE 2/1 (Chris Simpson bt Lucas Serme 11-4, 11-1,
11-3 (34m); James Willstrop lost to Gregory Gaultier 7-11, 7-11, 11-4,
1-11 (44m); Tom Richards bt Geoffrey Demont 11-8, 11-6, 11-2 (37m))
3rd place play-off:
[4]
SCOTLAND bt [3] GERMANY 3/1 (Douglas Kempsell bt Rudi Rohrmuller 11-6,
8-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-8 (81m); Alan Clyne lost to Simon Rösner 15-13,
11-4, 5-11, 5-11, 5-11 (69m); Kevin Moran bt Lucas Wirths 11-9, 11-9,
7-11, 11-3 (49m); Greg Lobban bt Raphael Kandra 6-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9
ret. (64m))
Women's Final:
[1]
ENGLAND bt [2] FRANCE 2/0 (Victoria Lust bt Laura Pomportes 11-7, 11-8,
11-6 (29m); Laura Massaro bt Camille Serme 11-5, 11-1, 11-6 (30m))
3rd place play-off:
[7]
NETHERLANDS bt [4] WALES 2/1 (Tessa ter Sluis bt Jenny Haley 8-11,
11-8, 13-11, 5-11, 11-9 (39m); Natalie Grinham lost to Tesni Evans
7-11, 5-11, 11-4, 7-11 (32m); Milou van der Heijden bt Deon Saffery
12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 (36m))
