What's been happening in the world of squash (7th to 13th of November 2016)

The After World

The World Championship is such a physically and mentally demanding competition that the tournament just after it is always a bit special. As we could expect a few top players - Ramy Ashour, Grégory Gaultier and Ali Farag – pulled out a few days before due to injury. There has been a few upsets in the first couple of days in Doha: Daryl Selby beat Omar Mosaad for the first time and reached the top 8 of a World Series event, which he hadn’t done for more than a year. He’ll now face Australia’s Cameron Pilley. Simon Rosner produced one of his best ever performances to overcome James Willstrop in straight games. The German number 1 will play his sixteenth quarter finals in a “major” but if he wants to go one step further for the first time, he’ll need to be equal to the task against world number 1 Mohamed El Shorbagy – whom he’s never beaten in 8 matches. It’s been a fantastic couple of days for Frenchman Grégoire Marche, who came out victorious of two five game matches against Egyptian players - Mohamed Abouelghar and Tarek Momen. Marche showed great determination to come back twice from behind in the fifth. It will be his first quarters in a World Series event whereas his next opponent has played 80 of them! But "The Acrobat” will take some confidence from his last encounter with Nick Matthew in San Francisco, which he won in straight games. Meanwhile, newly crowned world champion Karim Abdel Gawad continues to impress. In the second round, he was pushed to a fifth game by compatriot Zahed Mohamed but was able to close it out. He has now won 21 of his 24 matches since the beginning of the season. In the quarters he will face Marwan El Shorbagy, whom he’s had gigantic battles with in the last few years.   

Photo credit: squashsite

Countdown to the Women’s World Team Championship

Women’s World Team Championship, 12 days to go. After the teams last Saturday, the pool line-ups and seedings were announced on Monday. Unsurprisingly, Egypt – boasting three players in the top 4 – and title holders England are seeded 1 and 2. The former are huge favourites to top Pool A. New Zealand and India underperformed two years ago due to the absence of a key player (Joelle King and Dipika Pillikal), but both countries will be eager to make the quarters and the clash between the two nations will be one of the highlights of the group stage. In Pool B, England have made 11 finals in a row since 1994 and will be looking to extend this extraordinary streak. We’ll have a USA – Canada rematch since the two neighbouring countries had met in 2014 (the Americans coming on top).

Photo credit: wsfwomensteams.com

Malaysia and Nicol David produced a huge upset two years ago against Egypt in the semi-finals. If they want to repeat this result, they’ll have to beat a solid-looking Australian team in Pool C. David has won her last 30 matches in the WWTC and the last player to beat her was ... Australia’s Rachael Grinham in 2004! Without number 2 Deon Saffery, it’ll be hard for Wales to upset the two favourites. Finally, in Pool D it is the same set-up than two years ago for Hong Kong China and France, seeded 4 and 5 and playing in a 5 team group. Annie Au and her teammates won in Canada after a very close tie and their encounter on the glass court on Wednesday will be the highlight of the pool stage for the home crowd. Netherlands and her player/manager/coach Natalie Grinham can’t be ruled out though.

More info on the official website

wsfwomensteams.com

Jacques Fontaine Elected World Squash Federation President

Photo credit: www.worldsquash.org

The 46^th Annual General Meeting of the World Squash Federation elected a new President to succeed to Narayana Ramachandran. Jacques Fontaine becomes the Federation's ninth President since the WSF's inception in 1967 - the first Frenchman and third European - and was elected by delegates representing a record-breaking 59 National Federations. "My intention will be to work with a new governance model based on integrity, transparency and team spirit," said Fontaine after his victory. "The WSF needs to establish a defined agreement with the professional section of our discipline, the PSA. The Olympic agenda remains a priority, along with increasing the profile of our sport worldwide and supporting grassroots development," added the new President. Also elected at the meeting were four new Vice Presidents: Pablo Serna, President of the Colombian Federation; Sarah Fitz-Gerald, the five-time World Champion and current World Over-45 Champion from Australia; Gar Holohan, President of the Irish Federation; and Huang Ying How, President of the Malaysian Federation. "They bring a tremendous skill set, global representation and an unparalleled commitment,” said President Fontaine, delighted by the candidates on his newly-elected board. “I am confident this will be the beginning of a new era for squash."

Source: www.worldsquash.org