Squash: India lose to Egypt

India's dream run came to a halt when they go down to top-seeded Egypt 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the 21st India Cements World Men's Team Squash Championship in Chennai on Monday.

The 63rd ranked Bhattacharya, whose victory over David Evans paved the way for India's 3-0 win over Wales in the last 16 on Sunday, put up a spirited show against 9th ranked Wael EI Hindi before losing 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-8.

Ghosal, who played the second match, was classy with a few delectable returns and surprised the world number one, Amr Shabana, in the third game. Ghosal was trailing 4-7 but staged a solid comeback to snatch three points in a row. However, the Indian lost 11-5, 11-8, 11-9.

Later, Mohammed Abbas beat Siddarth Suchde 11-6, 11-8 to complete the formalities.

India will play Canada for the 5-8 places on Tuesday.

In the semi-finals on Tuesday, favourites Egypt play Australia and France take on England.

Earlier, the Indians were awarded a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh by Squash Rackets Federation of India secretary N Ramachandran for entering the quarter-finals for the first time in three decades.

Ghosal told the media later that it was a learning experience for him. 'I never dreamt that I will be playing Shabana. He is such a strong player and I had learnt a few technical aspects from my match today. Perhaps, I will give out a much better display when I play him next.'

The first match between Bhattacharya and Hindi was replete of let calls and arguments by the rival players with the referee. The rivals were always playing close to each other and had their movements restricted.

In the first game, most of the points were earned by the rivals after let calls and the Indian was leading 10-7. Here, Hindi brought about his experience in forcing Bhattacharya to err and leveled scores before claiming the game. Hindi was a runaway winner in the next two to give a vital lead to Egypt.

Shabana, who perhaps schemed his game to assess Ghosal initially in the first game, went on to win it 11-5 and trailed 3-4 in the second. Shabana got into his usual form and started scoring points at will. He won the second (11-5) and third (11-9) for a 2-0 match lead.

In the third match, Mohammed Abbas downed Siddarth Suchde 11-6, 11-8 in the dead rubber.

Following are the results of quarter-final matches:

Egypt bt India 3-0:
Wael EI Hindi bt ritwik Bhattacharya 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-8, Amr Shabana bt Sourav Ghosal 11-5, 11-8, 11-9, Mohammed Abbas bt Siddarth Suchde 11-6, 11-8.

England bt Netherlands 3-0:
James Willstrop bt Tom Hoevernaars 11-6, 11-7,9-11, 11-9, Nick Mathew bt Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, Peter Barker bt Piedro Schweertman 11-4, 11-2.

France bt Malaysia 3-0:
Thierry Lincou bt Ong Beng Hee 11-9, 11-6,11-10 (2-0), Gregory Gaultier bt Moha Azlan Bin Iskandar 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, Renan Lavingne bt Mohd Bin Azan 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 11-5.

Australia bt Canada 3-0:
Steward Boswell bt Mathew giuffre 11-4, 11-8, 11-4, David Palmer bt Shahier Razik 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-6, 11-6, Cameron Pilley bt Shawn De Lierre 11-3, 11-7.

Results of 17 to 29 placing matches:
Esouth Africa bt USA 2-1:
Adrian Hansen bt Christopher Gordon 11-4, 11-7, 11-9, JAsse Engelbrecht bt Julian Illingworth 11-9, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), Clinton Leeuw bt Jamie Crombie 11-9, 11-5.

Russia bt Chinese Taipei 3-0:
Sergey Kostrvkin bt Kai-Ham Chuang 11-3, 11-2, 9-11, 11-4, alexi Severinov bt Ching-Han Chen 11-8, 11-6,      Spian bt Kenya 3-0.

Alejandrop Carbi bt Hartal Bains 11-5, 11-8, 11-7, David Vidal Villamide bt Hardeep Reel 11-10 (5-3), 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 11-6, Arturo Santo Tomas bt Otto Kwach 9-11, 11-8, 1-5.

Japan bt Austria 2-1:
Takanori Shimizu bt Jakob Dirnberger 11-6, 11-2, 11-8, Jun Matsumoto lost to Aqueel Rehman 7-11, 3-11, 5-11, Yuta Fiuki bt Andreas Freudensprung 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 11-40 (4-2).

Scotland bt Kuwait 2-1:
Stuart Crawford lost to Abdullah Al-Mezyen 2-11, 5-11, 10-11 (0-2), Alan Clyne bt Bader Al-Hussaini 11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 3-11, 11-8, Henry Leitch bt Mohammed Hajeyah 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8.

Sweden bt Finalnd 2-1:
Badr Azia bt Matias Tuomi 11-10 (4-2), 11-4, 11-5, Christian Drakenbderg lost to Olli Tuominen 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-2, 11-6, Rasmus bt Henrik Mustonen 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5.