Chennai, Sept 7: In a contest that went to the wire, Egypt edged out defending champion Great Britain 2-1 and wrested the Gold in the mixed team event of the World University Squash championship here today. Egypt lifted the team title for the third time in this competition. They were the champions last in 2008. All the three matches in the final went the full distance making it the proverbial grand finale.”This is about the best you would have expected for a final,” said Zena Woolridge, the FISU Technical delegate and also President of the European Squash Federation.
It was a nail biting contest right through. As per the draw on the final day, the women’s singles in the tie was played first. Egypt thought Farah Meguid would put the country in a happy situation.But Camilla Tomlinson dashed that hope. s. Having won the individual gold earlier this talented player showed her fighting qualities after the Egyptian clawed back from two games down. Finally it was a test of resolve and Camilla came up trumps with her never give up approach. With Great Britain one up, the pressure was on Mazen Sabri to keep Egypt afloat. The situation demanded careful play and against a resilient Edward Charlton who has shown good ability to adapt to situations in this championship, Mazen had to be sharp. He was not that in the opener and the Briton made the most of it. But things turned there, particularly after Mazen showed his amazing stroke production to come back from 6-10 situation to win a game. The soft drop shots began working as also the fierce backhand essays that found the spot inches above the tin for winners. Still Charlton gave little away even in struggle. The net result was a lively contest that inexorably turned Mazen’s way.
Equally tight was the deciding match involving Zahed Mohammed and Joel Patrick Makin. The Egyptian till date had little to do in the team event for so fluent were the others in helping the cause. But today the onus was on him. The pressure told particularly with Makin showing admirable penchant for returning winners, be it low volleys or cross court drives. There were any number of ‘let ‘ calls and a few moments when the two players seemed to lose cool. The winning point was a case in point as a tired Makin dived to get back a low ball but failed. Earlier, for the Bronze, Malaysia bet South Africa 2-1. The next edition of this event will be held in 2016 in Malaysia. The results: final: Egypt bt Great Britain 2-1 (Farah Abdel Meguid lost to Camilla Tomlinson 9-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 5-11; Mazen Sabri bt Edward Charlton 10-12, 11-5, 5-11, 12-10, 11-4; Zahed Mohammad bt Joel Patrick Makin 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8)
Third place:Malaysia bt south Africa 2-1 ( Zulhijjah lost to Alexandra Fuller 11-8, 2-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-13; Sanjay Singh bt Andrew Martin 11-3, 9-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-5; Addeen Bahtiar bt Nell Van De Merwe 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-3 (UNI)
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