Egypt’s class and prowess to the fore at the Chennai Squash World Cup Premium

The Egyptian stars gave ample evidence of their superb skills and the level of dominance at the Squash World Cup held in Chennai recently.

The Egyptian stars gave ample evidence of their superb skills and the level of dominance at the Squash World Cup held in Chennai recently.

Much before the start of the event, it was clear Egypt would win as the top seed, and it did it in grand style. The win over Malaysia in the final showed the African powerhouse had the capacity to bounce back when the odds were against it.

The team’s game plan, strategy, and execution were spectacular throughout the mixed-team competition, which took place after a gap of 12 years.

Though the timing of the event at the end of the season prevented the cream of Egypt players from taking part, three of the four were in the top 50 and the other was ranked 56th.

But disappointment was in store for Indians fans when the host lost tamely to Malaysia 3-0 in the semifinals. Much was expected from the second seed after it had put it across Japan 3-1 in the last group-B tie.

The experienced Joshna Chinnappa and Saurav Ghosal, who gave lots of hope with their performance against Japan, failed to rise to the occasion against Malaysia.

The 21-year-old Abhay Singh, a rising star ranked World No.62, also cracked under pressure. In the crucial ties against Japan (in the group phase) and Malaysia in the knock-outs, he lost the opening match, putting pressure on his compatriots.