India went down fighting to arch rivals and higher seeded, Pakistan 0-3 in their second league encounter of Group G in the 21st World Men's Team Squash Championship at the India Cements Academy courts on Friday.
All three Pakistani players were highly rated than the Indian trio of Saurav Ghosal, Ritwik Bhattacharya and Siddarth Suchede but the hosts did put up a spirited show.
Amir Atlas Khan, Manzoor Zamam and Farhan Mehboob were more technically sound and showed experience during vital points. Both Suchde and Ghosal had their chances of winning vital games but frittered away the advantage.
With this win Pakistan reached the pre-quarter finals, while India is also virtually in the last 16 as they are expected to sail smoothly against 23rd ranked Kenya in their last group league match on Saturday.
As for the other matches on Friday, top rated teams Egypt, France, England and Australia have booked their berth in the next grade. The final 16 teams to play in the second stage (knock-out pre quarter-finals) will be decided on Saturday after the end of the first round league encounters.
In India's first match, Suchede, the third ranked Indian as per the draw today, claimed the first game 11-8 against Farhan Mehboob in quick time with total powerplay but lacked the finish.
In the second, the rivals were going neck and neck and Suchde came up with a winner close to the right side wall and then levelled the score at 10-10 with a confident overhead boast to the left corner of the glass. After saving one match point, Suchde under pressure faulted miserably.
Farhan had no difficulty in winning the next two games rather easily for an 8-11, 12-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-5 win.
In the second match, which watched by almost a packed stadium at the all-glass centre court, Ghosal showed signs of winning the match but failed against a better rated Amir Atlas Khan (28th ranked). It was not easy going for the Pakistani as Ghosal ranked 47 fought hard in the first game. Ghosal saved a match point before hitting the tin to lose the game 10-12 (0-2).
Results:
Group:A
Egypt bt Germany 3-0
Mohammed Abbas bt Moritz Dahmen 11-3, 11-4, 11-5, Amr Shabana bt Simon Rosner 11-7, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-3, Wael El Hindi bt Tim Weber 11-7, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 11-2.
Finland bt Russia 3-0
Henrik Mustonen bt Valery Litvinko 11-4, 11-0, 11-5, Olli Tuaminen bt Alexi Severinov 11-4, 11-2, 11-4, Matias Toomi bt Sergey Kostrykin 11-1, 11-3, 11-3
Group B:
England bt Spain 3-0
Peter Barker bt Arturo Santo Tomas 11-4, 11-4, 11-7, Nick Mathew bt David vidal Villamide 11-7, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), Lee Beachill bt Alejandro Garbi Caro 11-4, 11-4, 11-10 (3-1).
Group C:
Japan bt Venezuela 3-0
Ken Okada bt Luis Hernandez 11-4, 11-6, 11-5, Jun Matsumoto bt Fransisco Valecillo 11-8, 11-7, 11-2, Takanori Shimizu bt Juan Pabli Sanchez 11-8, 11-4, 11-6.
France bt USA 3-0
Renan Lavigne bt Christopher jGordon 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-4, Julien Bablo bt Jamie Crombie 11-4, 11-4, 11-7, Thierry Lincou bt julian Illingworth 11-6, 11-6, 11-3.
Group D:
Australia bt Scotland 3-0
Scott Arnold bt Jamie Macoulay 11-4, 11-4, 11-5, Stewart Boswell bt Alan Clyne 11-3, 11-3, 11-6, Cameron Pilley bt Henry Leitch 11-6, 11-5, 11-2.
Group E:
Kuwait bt Sri Lanka 3-0
Nasser B Al Ramezi bt Anura Hewage 11-4, 11-1, 11-2, Bader Al.Hussaini bt Saman Tilakaratne 11-6, 11-5, 11-3, Abdullah Al-Mezayen bt navin Samarasinghe 11-2, 11-3, 11-3.
Group F:
Canada bt Austria 3-0
Mathew Giuffre bt andreas Freudensprung 11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 11-6, Jonathan Power bt Aqeel Rehman 11-1, 11-2, 11-4, Shahier Razik bt Jakob dimberger 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4
Group G:
Pakistan bt India 3-0
Farhan Mehboob bt Siddharth Suchde 8-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-5, Amir Atlas Khan bt Saurav Ghosal 11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 10-11 (1-3), 6-11, 11-9, Mansoor Zaman bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-6, 11-9, 11-3.
Group H:
Wales bt Chinese Taipei 3-0
Jethro Binns bt Kai-Han Chuang 11-1, 11-6, 11-6, David Evans bt Chun-Yu Chang 11-8, 11-6, 11-8, Rob Sutherland bt Hsuen-chih Huang 11-6, 11-4, 11-2.
Netherlands bt Sweden 3-0
Piedro Schweertman bt Gustav Detter 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, Laurens Jan anjema bt Christian Drakenberg 11-3, 11-2, 11-9, Dylan Bennett bt Rasmus Hult 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5
