| Malaysia Stun England In Major World Championship Upset
Posted: 20 Aug 2014 01:28 AM PDT
Malaysia produced a shock 2/1 win over England in the quarter-finals of the WSF Men’s World Junior Team Squash Championship at the Wanderers Sports Club in the Namibia capital Windhoek to deny the four-time champions a last four finish for the first time in the 34-year history of the biennial World Squash Federation championships. England, the only nation to have reached at least the semi-finals in every championship since the inaugural competition in 1980, were the event’s third seeds. George Parker put England ahead with a 3/1 win over Mohd Syafiq Kamal – but Eain Yow Ng drew level for the fifth seeds when he beat Lyell Fuller 14-12, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9 in 68 minutes. Malaysia then celebrated a sensational triumph when 17-year-old Darren Chan defeated Patrick Rooney 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 in 41 minutes.
Malaysia, who finished in a best-ever third place in 2006, now face Pakistan for a place in the final. Second seeds Pakistan, champions in 2008, eased to a 2/0 win over No7 seeds Finland. There was a further significant quarter-final upset when Spain beat fourth seeds India 2/1. After the first two matches were shared, it was again the battle between the teams’ third strings that settled the tie – when Barcelona-based 18-year-old Bernat Jaume defeated Indian Vijay Meena 11-7, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7 in 38 minutes to seal Spain’s victory. Spain, the sixth seeds who finished in 20th place in their last appearance in the championship and recorded a best-ever fifth place finish in 1998, will now face Egypt in the semi-finals. Favourites and defending champions Egypt scored a resounding 3/0 win over 8th seeds Ireland.
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