Squash World Cup: India open campaign against Hong Kong

CHENNAI: The experienced Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa will spearhead the Indian challenge as the fourth edition of Squash World Cup begins here on Tuesday with the hosts in with a chance to strike gold in the mixed team event.

Ghosal and Joshna are part of a four-member Indian team that will go up against the likes of Hong Kong, China, South Africa and Japan in the league stage in Pool B. Abhay Singh and Tanvi Khanna are the other members of the home team.

India will begin their campaign against Hong Kong in an evening match on the first day of the revamped tournament.

''We have a good chance. But we are focussing on one match at a time. Hopefully, we will all execute our plans well and win every match,'' said Ghosal.

The tournament, to be played in the all-glass show court inside the Express Avenue Mall, will also feature teams from Egypt, Australia, Malaysia and Colombia.

Though most participating teams would be without their leading stars, there are some in the top-100 who would be seen in action.

In the group stage, India's challenge is likely to come from Japan, which includes Satomi Watanabe, ranked world No. 18 in the women's section and quality male players like Ryunosuke Tsukue and Tomotake Endo.

The Egyptian squad comprising Fayrouz Aboelkheir, Kenzy Ayman, Karim El Hammamy, Aly Abou Eleinen starts as favourites.

Meanwhile, the organisers are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the championship is a success.

''All arrangements have been made. Hope the fans enjoy watching the top players in action,'' the organisers said.

The tournament was inaugurated on Monday evening by Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin.

The format In the revamped event, each match will be played in a best-of-five games format, with seven points (it is 11 points in general).

In the event of a tie, there will be four matches wherein the winner of the match between the top seeds of opposing teams will get two points, and the contest between the second seeds will get one.

In case of a draw, the winning team will be decided by the greater positive difference between games won and lost.

The top two finishers from each pool will advance to the semifinals. The final will be played on June 17.

Groupings:

Pool A: Egypt, Australia, Colombia and Malaysia.

Pool B: India, Japan, South Africa and Hong Kong, China.

Incidentally, the last edition of the World Cup was also held in Chennai, way back in 2011.

With the season-ending PSA World Tour finals scheduled in Cairo from June 20, the top players have decided to give the World Cup a miss.

The second-seeded Indian team is expected to face the toughest challenge from Egypt, the top seed.