INDIA COULD HAVE FINISHED IN TOP TEN
Siddharth Suchde
The 20th World Men’s Squash Team
Championship were held in Pakistan from December 8-14. This
championship boasted of the 22 best teams from all around the globe.
The Indian contingent consisted of Ritwik Bhattacharya (1) ,
Saurav Ghoshal
(2) , Gaurav
Nandrajog (4) and myself
(3) along with coaches Maj. Maniam and Cyrus Poncha. It was the
first time after a lapse of 10 years that India had sent a team to
this event.
The championships were a fantastic experience for
the relatively young Indian team. Finishing 11th is the
best performance by any Indian team in the world championships. (India
placed 5th out of 6 teams in 67 and 6th out of 7
teams in 71.) While the result is undoubtedly satisfactory
the team has already set higher aspirations for the next event
in 2007 which is to be hosted by India.
LET ME TAKE YOU ON A TRIP OF OUR MATCHES
Vs France
They were the previous tournament finalists. I
played a tough match against Renan Lavigne but in the end his
experience pulled him through. Ritwik was always going to struggle
against Thierry Lincou who is also World no 1! Similarly, Saurav also
lost in the final tie against the French No.2 and world no 11 Greg
Gaultier.
RESULTS
France beat India 3-0
Renan Lavigne bt Siddharth Suchde 9/5, 4/9, 9/4, 9/2 (62 mins)
Thierry Lincou bt Ritwik Bhattacharya
9/1, 9/1, 9/0 (35 mins)
Greg Gaultier bt Saurav Ghoshal 9/3, 9/1, 9/5 (29 mins)
Vs Ireland
A win would take us to the top 12 bracket. I
managed a fairly comfortable 3-0 win over Irish no.3 Brian Byrne. This
led to Ritwik taking on the Irish no 1 Liam Kenny and the steadier
Kenny won games. It was left to Saurav to bring us home. And he did so
quite decisively once he got settled
into the match. As a result India was amongst the top 12 countries in
the world.
RESULT
India beat Ireland 2-1
Siddharth Suchde bt Brian Byrne 9/5, 9/1, 9/2 (36
m)
Ritwik Bhattacharya lost to Liam Kenny 7/9, 3/9,
6/9 (59m)
Saurav Ghoshal bt Arthur Gaskin 6/9, 9/5, 9/0,
9/1 (42 m)
Vs Canada
In the playoffs we drew fifth seeds Canada. Awin
would take us to the top eight. Canadian no.2 shahier Razik’s
retrieving proved too much for Saurav Ghoshal who lost 3-0. next
Ritwik probably played one of his best matches in the entire
tournament against the Canadian no 1 Graham Ryding who is top 20 in
the world. He lost a hard fought 3-0. in the ‘dead’ rubber I lost
to Matthew Guiffere 2-0.
RESULT
Canada bt India 3-0
shahier Razik
bt Saurav Ghoshal
10/8, 9/6, 9/2 (43 m)
Graham Ryding bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 10/8, 9/4,
9/4 (49 m)
Matthew Guiffere bt Siddharth Suchde
9/4, 9/5 (33m)
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Vs Germany
This for 9-12
placings. We should have won but
Saurav was 2-0 up against the German no 2 and suffered shin splints.
He could hardly walk thereafter and lost in 5 games. Next on was
Ritwik who played against the talented 18 years old and no 1 Simon
Rosner. Simon, being the underdog, had nothing to loose and played
well enough to win 3-1. However Ritwik seemed nervous throughout the
match and he admitted to performing below average on this occasion. I
lost the ‘dead’ rubber again.
RESULTS Germany bt India 3-0
Simon Rosner bt. Ritwik
9/7, 6/9, 9/7, 10/8
(82 m)
Patrick Gassler bt Siddharth Suchde
9/5, 9/3 (29 m)
Vs Netherlands:
For 11/12 places. Saurav was rested due to shin
splints and as a result Gaurav Nandrajog played at the no 3 position
and I was no 2. in the first match Laurence Anjema proved too strong
for a tired Ritwik and won 3-0. Gaurav playing his first match
impressed all by his clinical demolition of the Dutch no 3 in straight
games. This meant that I
played the decider against the Dutch no 2 Dylan Bennet who I had never
previously beaten. After playing two ‘dead’ rubbers on consecutive
days I was highly motivated to play in ‘live’ match. I won the
decider in straight games which placed us in the 11th
position.
WSF PATRON TUNKU IMRAN NOMINATED FOR MEMBERSHIP
OF IOC
HRH PRINCE TUNKU
IMRAN, PATRON OF THE WORLD
SQUASH FEDERATION (WSF)
Former WSF president
Tunku Imran has been nominated for membership of the influential
decision making body of the Olympic movement.
HRH Prince Tunku Imran, patron of the World
Squash Federation (WSF), has been selected by the Executive Board of
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for election as a member of
the IOC.
The Malaysian, who was President of the WSF from
1989 to 1996, is one of five candidates proposed for election to the
118th IOC Session in Turin in February 2006, which will be the start
of their eight-year term of office.
On completion of his maximum term as President of
the WSF, Tunku Imran was unanimously elected to be Emeritus President,
a role specially created for him as an honor for the great leadership
he had provided for the sport.
He is President of the Olympic Council of
Malaysia and a Vice-President of the Commonwealth Games Federation. He
is also a Board Member of the National Sports Council of Malaysia,
President of the Malaysian Cricket Association and Chairman of the
Foundation for Malaysian Sporting Excellence. He was Malaysia's first
National Squash Champion in 1973 and Chef de Mission to the Malaysian
Team at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
“The WSF is very proud to have Tunku Imran, a
long time friend of Squash, as its Patron," said the Federation's
Chief Executive Christian Leighton. "This nomination is
recognition of Tunku Imran's contribution to the development of sport
worldwide and of the Olympic Movement in Malaysia."'
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