The Indian team with a hard fought 3-0 victory against a spirited South Africa will play against outsiders Denmark in the round of 16. The Indians topped their pool with this victory.
Earlier in the day, Denmark pulled off the biggest upset in the WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship by beating Pakistan in the final qualifying round in the German city of Paderborn - a result which pushes one of the world’s most successful squash nations out of the world’s top 16 for the first time in their history.
Siddharth first on court had to claw his way back from a 1-2 deficit against hard hitting Shaun le Roux. It was Siddharth’s ability to finsh the ball that saw him win the fourth game comfortably and win the decided from 5-all. All credit to both players who fought until the end.
There seemed to be a repeat performance when Harinder Pal Singh too fought back from 1-2 games against the ‘Ninja’ Clinton Leeuw. Harinder seemed to be in total control of the match winning the first and leading in the second. A string of unforced errors gave Clinton the impetus who grabbed his chances to take a lead. It was Harinder’s never say die attitude that ensured he was victorious after his 83 min duel.
Saurav rapped up the proceedings with a classy performance in 3 straight games showing his vast array of shots.
INDIA bt SOUTH AFRICA 3/0Siddharth Suchde bt Shaun le Roux 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-1, 11-6 (80m)Harinder Pal Sandhu bt Clinton Leeuw 12-10, 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8 (83m)Saurav Ghosal bt Stephen Coppinger 11-5, 11-3, 11-4 (28m)Final pool positions: 1 India, 2 South Africa, 3 Kuwait, 4 Hungary
India plays against giant killers Denmark at 1400hrs German time for a place in the quarter finals.
