India and Hong Kong, China to Battle for SDAT Squash World Cup Title

Hosts India and top seeds Hong Kong, China, will compete for the SDAT Squash World Cup title after India blew away defending champions Egypt while Hong Kong, China, were saved by a valiant rescue from Alex Lau and Ka Yi Lee as the pre-tournament favourites recovered from 0-2 down against Japan in Express Avenue Mall, Chennai.

India came into their tie with unfinished business after falling agonisingly short in 2023, also in Chennai, when they exited in the semi-finals. Tonight, though, they made no mistake.

India, whose four-player team includes three Chennai locals, made an ideal start through Velavan Senthilkumar. The Indian National Champion looked a cut above his opponent Ibrahim Elkabbani, dominating court and opponent to win 3-0.

Match two was an epic between Anahat Singh and Nour Heikal. Singh, 17, struggled against Heikal’s power and attacking boasts in game one, with the Egyptian taking the opener via tie break 7-6. Singh recovered impeccably, though, showing grit and flair as she charged back in a thrilling five-game win.

This put india in a commanding position, with India Men’s No.1 Abhay Singh coming in for the third match.His opponent, rising teen star Adam Hawal, dug in fiercely and briefly threatened to spoil India’s party, before Singh got his team over the line 7-5, 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 to the delight of the crowd.

Afterwards, India National Coach Harinder Pal Sandhu said: “This was a v

Hong Kong, China on the Brink of Victory at World Squash Team Championships

That Lau win swung the odds back in Hong Kong, China’s, favour, with the fourth match pitting his teammate, World No.37 Ka Yi Lee, against World No.103 Akari Midorikawa. A 3-0 or 3-1 win for Lee would hand her side the win, while a tight 3-2 victory would see the tie decided on points count-back. midorikawa, meanwhile, would clinch the tie for Japan with a shock win against the player ranked 66 places above her.

The fiery Japan No.2,whose two game wins in a 3-2 defeat to World No.33 Aifa Azman yesterday set Japan on the way to a count-back victory, briefly threatened to pull off a miracle when she levelled at 1-1 after Lee had taken game one.

Lee, however, weathered the storm and…