Chennai, June 16 (UNI) Hosts India are out of the 2023 SDAT WSF Squash World Cup after a 0-3 shock defeat to Malaysia in the semi finals on Friday night.Malaysia took the lead in the first match, with Sai Hung Ong saving sudden death match ball and then converting in the fifth game to edge a gripping encounter with Chennai’s Abhay Singh.
Eighteen-year-old Aira Azman continued to inflict hurt as she took a 2-0 lead in match two against Joshna Chinappa, who pulled one game back, but eventually went down 7-4 in the fourth game to leave India in deep trouble.
After Singh’s and Chinappa’s defeats, India needed wins from both Saurav Ghosal and Tanvi Khanna to have any hope of progressing on games won.
This task was made even more difficult when World No.134 Darren Pragasam took a shock 1-0 lead against World No.19 Ghosal.
The 36-year-old Indian came storming back in the second game to check Malaysia’s momentum, with Ghosal, sporting heavy strapping on his right knee, levelling with a 7-2 win.Despite the win, Ghosal appeared to be struggling and Pragasam took full advantage to move into the lead with a 7-6 win in the third game before breaking Indian hearts with a 7-5 win in the fourth to guide Malaysia into the final.
In the finals tomorrow, Malaysia will face Egypt, which defeated Japan 4-0 in the other semifinals.
Results:
Semifinals :
[1] Egypt bt [3] Japan 3-0.
Karim El Hammamy beat Tomotaka Endo 3-0: 7-1, 7-6, 7-2 (21m) Fayrouz Aboelkheir beat Satomi Watanabe 3-0: 7-5, 7-2, 7-2 (20m) Aly Abou Eleinen beat Ryunosuke Tsukue 3-1: 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 (36m) Kenzy Ayman beat Akari Midorikawa 2-0: 7-3, 7-4 (07m)
Malaysia bt [2] India 3-0.
Sai Hung Ong beat Abhay Singh 3-2: 7-4, 5-7, 1-7, 7-1, 7-6 (37m) Aira Azman beat Joshna Chinappa 3-1: 7-3, 7-3, 5-7, 7-4 (21m) Darren Pragasam beat Saurav Ghosal 3-1: 7-5, 2-7, 7-6, 6-5 (25m) Xin Ying Yee vs Tanvi Khanna – match withdrawn
(UNI)
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