INDIA FINISHES TOP OF ITS POOL: Home team to take on Malaysia in Squash WC semi-finals

CHENNAI: India ended its Squash World Cup group-stage commitments with a 100 per cent record and finished on top of Pool B as it recorded a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Japan at the Express Avenue mall here on Thursday.

India (3 wins from 3 ties), which had been guaranteed of a last-four spot on Wednesday, will next face Malaysia (2 wins from 3 ties) on Friday while top seed and Pool A leader Egypt (3 wins from 3 ties) will take on Japan (2 wins from 3 ties).

In the battle for the Pool B top spot, India, receiving good support once again, got off to the worst possible start as Abhay Singh went down in straight games to Tomotaka Endo. But the home team levelled the tie score via veteran Joshna Chinappa, who registered a stunning 3-2 win over the higher-ranked Satomi Watanabe. After pulling things back for India, Joshna said: “It was just emotional winning this match. I knew that it was going to be hard. Satomi has had some great results on tour, so I am just relieved to get through this match.”

Up next was Saurav Ghosal, who put India in the lead for the first time in the tie with a hard-fought 3-2 triumph over Ryunosuke Tsukue. In the last match of the day, Tanvi Khanna clinched victory for India with a straight-game win over Akari Midorikawa.

RESULTS:First round: Pool B: India bt Japan 3-1 (Abhay Singh lost to Tomotaka Endo 6-7, 6-7, 2-7; Joshna Chinappa bt Satomi Watanabe 2-7, 7-4, 3-7, 7-5, 7-5; Saurav Ghosal bt Ryunosuke Tsukue 7-6, 6-7, 7-4, 3-7, 7-5; Tanvi Khanna bt Akari Midorikawa 7-4, 7-1, 7-1). South Africa bt Hong Kong 3-1 (Jean Pierre-Brits bt Chung Yat Long 7-1, 6-7, 7-3, 7-6; Lizelle Muller lost to Heylie Fung 4-7, 7-6, 6-7, 5-7; Dewald van Niekerk bt To Yu Ling 7-5, 7-2, 7-6; Hayley Ward bt Yee Lam Toby 7-4, 7-4, 7-3).Pool A: Egypt bt Malaysia 3-1 (Karim El Hammamy bt Sai Hung Ong 7-1, 7-3, 7-0; Fayrouz Aboelkheir lost to Aira Azman 5-7, 7-5, 3-7, 7-2, 3-7; Aly Abou Eleinen bt Darren Pragasam 7-1, 7-0, 7-1; Kenzy Ayman bt Xin Ying Yee 5-7, 7-4, 7-3, 2-7, 7-5).Australia bt Colombia 4-0 (Nicholas Calvert bt Alfonso Marroquin 7-4, 7-3, 5-7, 7-2; Jessica Turnbull bt Laura Tovar 7-6, 4-7, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6; Joseph White bt Felipe Tovar 6-7, 7-3, 7-1, 7-0; Alexandra Haydon bt Catalina Pelaez 6-7, 7-6, 7-4, 6-7, 7-6)