Sport - Squash

Egypt beats Finland

— Photo: V. Ganesan.

STRETCHED: Amr Shabana had a tougher than expected outing against old rival Olli Tuominen.

CHENNAI: Fresh from his World Squash Open triumph in Bermuda, Amr Shabana did not expect a tough fight for a start to his campaign for his country in the ICL World men’s team championship here on Thursday.

But that is exactly what Finland’s Olli Tuominen had in store for the Egyptian in a Pool ‘A’ encounter on one of the outside courts at the ICL academy.

It is a different matter that the World No. 1 knew his way to safety but it seemed an irony that when most matches on day one went on expected and easy lines, the champion had to struggle.

“He is a good player. We have been playing each other from our childhood days. He certainly made me work hard,” said Shabana.

It was a match where the World No. 17 Tuominen had the satisfaction of driving his rival to moments of despair.

“I thought I had a chance to win. We had played (in the under-15s) in the British Open. I had twice beaten him but then he is now World No. 1 and knows how to get out of such situations,” said the Finn.

Expectedly, Shabana was the centre of attraction. Shabana had walked in after Mohammed Abbas had given Egypt a 1-0 lead having won his match against Henrik Mustonen. Tuominen, quite familiar with the Egyptian’s game, began testing him with deft drops to the corners.

There were the down-the-line shots that Shabana could not return. At one stage, Shabana shot the ball to the roof in anguish and the referee had to have a word with him.

Shabana was unable to find his range but his class often surfaced to nullify his rival’s efforts.

Tuominen pushed Shabana twice to extra points and even grabbed one game but the Egyptian had the last laugh as he guided his country to victory.

For Egypt, the fitness of Karim Darwish must have been heartening. In the absence of Ramy Ashour, Darwish has his task cut out in this championship.

Non-stop action was the order of the day on the seven courts and for the home crowd, the India-Bermuda encounter in Pool ‘G’ did not quite warm up to the occasion. India’s supremacy was clear to all. Ritwik Bhattacharya was rested and Gaurav Nandrajog inducted.

He set the tone for India by making short work of Robert Maycock. Saurav Ghosal then breezed past Chase Toogood in 24 minutes.

Tie decided, Siddarth Suchde came on to demolish Mel Cairnes in 13 minutes.

India takes on Pakistan on Friday and already there is a buzz around for this match of traditional rivals.

The results:

Pool A: Germany bt Russia 3-0; Egypt bt Finland 3-0; Pool B: Hong Kong bt Spain 2-1; Pool C: US bt Venezuela 3-0; Pool D: New Zealand bt Scotland 3-0; Pool E: Malaysia bt Kuwait 3-0; South Africa bt Sri Lanka 3-0; Pool F: Ireland bt Austria 3-0; Pool G: India bt Bermuda 3-0 (Gaurav Nandrajog bt Robert Maycock 11-3, 11-10(4-2), 11-8; Saurav Ghosal bt Chase Toogood 11-3, 11-5, 11-4; Siddharth Suchde bt Mel Cairnes 11-1, 11-2, 11-5); Pakistan bt Kenya 3-0; Pool H: Wales bt Sweden 3-0; Netherlands bt Chinese Taipei 3-0.

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