Team USA Derailed By England In World Juniors Quarterfinals
from DailySquashReport.com
photos courtesy Steve Cubbins
July 17, 2012 - England's Richie Fallows beat Edward Columbia in four games, and Tom Ford followed with a straight-set win over Dylan Murray, as England advanced over the US yesterday to the 2012 World Men's Juniors semifinals in Doha, Qatar.
England, the event's #3 seeds, will take on #2 Pakistan today, while #1 Egypt will square off with #4 India.
The sixth-seeded US team will face Japan this morning in the semis of the consolation bracket.
In a surprise lineup move, England sat out its number one player Oliver Holland against the US, which propelled #3 Richie Fallows into the opening-match #2 slot against Columbia and #2 Tom Ford into the second-match-on-court #1 spot against Dylan Murray.
Columbia comported himself well, sustaining the match for 46 minutes, but Fallows was too strong down the stretch and came through 11-5 in the fourth.
Ford proceeded to win the first game against Murray 11-1, and ended matters comfortably in just over a half hour.
As a footnote, the Americans chose to sit out #3 TJ Dembinski, which meant if the first two matches had been split, the semi-final berth would have come down to a match-up of #4's Mitt Sidaway of England versus Devin McLaughlin of the US.
Following the match, US Head Coach Paul Assaiante told DSR:
"I was so impressed with England.
"They played wonderfully and we gave it all but they had too many answers.
"Ford at number one today was amazing!
"Not sure why they switched their lineup.
"TJ has played so many tough matches and Devin is a fine player, so we thought it wise to rest him.
"We are still a bit away from England's level.
"Japan tomorrow - huge match."
#13 Japan has had a good run in the team event, squeaking by Colombia in pool play and beating Germany in the first round of the playoffs.
The US squad should win easily however, which would set the stage for Wednesday's 5th-place match against the winner of Canada and Hong Kong.
RESULTS:
US v England
Richie Fallows d Edward Columbia 11-2 7-11 11-7 11-5
Thomas Ford d Dylan Murray 11-1 11-7 11-4
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