The Hindu : Sport : England’s determination to the fore

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Thursday, Dec 13, 2007
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England’s determination to the fore

S.R. Suryanarayan

Barker takes his side to victory in the deciding rubber

— Photo: V. Ganesan

PROUD MOMENT: The triumphant England team with the chief guest Els van Breda Vriesman (third from left) and other dignitaries.

CHENNAI: England’s dogged determination prevailed as it came back from arrears to carve out a 2-1 win over Australia in the final of the ICL- World men’s team squash championship here on Wednesday.

England, with its fourth title win, also proved that it had better depth in terms of talent. Peter Barker, who was thrilled when he was named in the England team which travelled here to defend its crown, was the hero.

Barker took his side to victory with a cool and calculated decimation of Cameron Pilley in straight games in the decisive third singles after the teams had split the first two.

Considering that Barker was ranked 10 runs above Pilley, it was not an unexpected result but this was a pressure-cooker situation. Everything depended on his performance for England just as Australia looked to Pilley.

An elated England manager David Pearson praised James Willstrop and Barker who made the win possible.

“Team event is always edgy and it is good that we could perform when the chips were down,” he said. A disappointed Palmer said, “Coming second was still good. We have done better than expected.”

Memorable encounter

It was a match that went well over four-and-a-quarter hours and had moments of thrill, class, emotions and even outbursts.

For a brief while Australia looked to be in the driver’s seat, thanks to Palmer who came up with another outstanding display even if Nick Mathew pushed him to the distance.

It is not easy to sustain one’s form and stamina for two back-to-back close encounters. Palmer showed that his win over Amr Shabana on Tuesday had not taken a toll on his body. The World No. 4 was in no hurry, as he mixed aggression with defensive play.

Palmer had the match in his control though Mathew made a strong comeback. In the decisive fifth game, Palmer executed his plans perfectly with drops and drives that left Mathews lunging.

Both players excelled in court-craft and flexibility before Palmer had the final say. Mathew could not hold back the frustration of losing and violently threw his racquet on the front glass wall.

Willstrop, who had won his World junior title in 2002 on the same court, regaled the good gathering with his touch and artistry to bring back the smiles on the England players’ faces.

Stewart Boswell has had more wins over his rival in recent times but that did not deter the Englishman. Willstrop kept date with glory, like he did five years ago. It was left to Barker to complete the job and he vindicated the faith reposed in him. Host India, which made its maiden entry into the quarterfinals, finished eighth overall after losing to Netherlands, while Egypt slipped to fourth place when it lost to France.

The FIH President, Els van Breda Vriesman, who had specially flown in for the final, gave away the prizes in the presence of Heather Daton, Vice-President, WSF, Prof. Sarah Springman, President, Triathlon Federation of England, and N. Ramachandran, Secretary-General, SRFI, among others.

The results: Final: England bt Australia 2-1 (Nick Mathews lost to David Palmer 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2, 4-11; James Willstrop bt Stewart Boswell 11-6, 11-7, 12-10; Peter Barker bt Cameron Pilley 11-6, 11-4, 11-8).

Classification matches: 3-4: France bt Egypt 2-0 (Gregory Gaultier bt Amr Shabana 11-2, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3; Thierry Lincou bt Wael Elhendy 11-4, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3).

5-6: Malaysia bt Canada 2-0 (Mohd. Azlan Bin Iskandar bt Shahir Razik 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1), 11-5; Ong Beng Hee bt Mathew Giuffre 11-7, 11-6, 11-7).

7-8: Netherlands bt India 2-0 (Laurens Jan Anjema bt Saurav Ghosal 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-4; Dylan Bennett bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-6, 11-4, 11-7).

Positions 9 to 29: Pakistan, Wales, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, USA, Hong Kong, Germany, Sweden, Scotland, Spain, Japan, Finland, Kuwait, Kenya, Austria, Sri Lanka, Bermuda, Russia, Venezuela and Chinese Taipei.

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