CHENNAI, Dec 8: Farhan Mehboob outclassed Melrindo Caines in straight sets as Pakistan defeated Bermuda 3-0 in Group G on the third day of the 21st World Team Men’s squash championship here on Saturday.

Farhan dominated the match completely and did not allow Bermuda’s Melrindo Caines to offer any resistance. He won with scores of 11-2, 11-0, 11-4.

Pakistan’s Mansoor Zaman played outstandingly to overcome Chase Toogood 11-4, 11-1, 11-6.

Yasir Butt defeated Robert Maycock 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 to help Pakistan win.

Wales’ duo Alex Cough and Jethro Binns caused a minor upset beating the Netherlands 2-1.

The eighth seeded Netherlands went down fighting to ninth ranked Wales 2-1 with the Welsh now playing India on Sunday. If India beat Wales the hosts will take on Egypt in the quarter-finals.

After two days of rest and with the knock-out stage pre-quarter-finals starting Sunday, the world number three, Gregory Gaultier of France, Australian David Palmer (fourth) and England’s James Willstrop (sixth) scored straight game victories.Gaultier needed just 14 minutes to beat Fransisco Valecillo of Venezuela yielding 4, 6 and 7 points before clinching a win.

Palmer took 24 minutes for his 11-4, 11-2. 11-6 win over Kiwi Kashif Shuja, while Willstrop got past Hong Kong’s Dick lau at 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 in 17 minutes.

As for the Wales-Netherlands match, Cough (ranked 25) had to exert every sinew to down 20th ranked laurens Jan Anjema in the decider on his 37th birthday.

Excepting in the fourth game, Cough was leading in the marathon 87 minutes five-game thriller. The second game was noteworthy as Anjema being down 2-6 turned the tide in his favour levelling the score at 7-7 and then took the game at 11-8 to level at 1-1.

Though the Dutch put up a courageous fight back in the decider, Cough was unstoppable winning most of the rallies to good effect in marching out as the victor from 6-all. Cough won at 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7.

In the second match, Jethro Binns scored a straight win at 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 but was almost upset by Tom Hoevenaars in the second game.

With the top sixteen ranked teams for the championship progressing to the second stage, Wales versus India and Netherlands versus Pakistan (7th ranked) are the only evenly matched ties in Sunday’s pre-quarter finals.

Following is the line up for knock-out second stage of the championship:

Egypt v Hong Kong, Wales v India, Australia v USA, Canada v South Africa, Ireland v Malaysia, New Zealand v France, Netherlands v Pakistan and Germany v England.

Results:

Group A: Egypt bt Russia 3-0 (Karim Darwish bt Alexi Severinov 11-4, 11-2, 11-4; Mohammed Abbas bt Valery Litvinko 11-3, 11-3, 11-4; Wael El Hindi bt Sergy Kostrykin 11-3, 11-5, 11-4); Germany bt Finland 3-0 (Simon Rosner bt Olli Tuaminen 11-8, 4-11,

10-11 (0-2), 11-10 (5-3), 11-3; Johannes Voit lost to Henrik Mustonen 8-11, 6-11, 4-11; Tim Webber bt Matias Toomi 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6)

Group B: England bt Hong Kong 3-0 (James Willstrop bt Dick Lau 11-5, 11-4, 11-3; Peter Barker bt Anson Kwong 11-5, 11-8, 11-4; Lee Beachill bt Max Lee 11-6, 11-2, 11-10 (2-0)

Group C: France bt Venezuela 3-0 (Gaultier Gregory bt Fransisco Valecillo 11-4, 11-6, 11-7; Julien Balbo bt Richard Prieto 11-3, 11-4, 11-6; Renan Lavigne bt Juan Pablo Sanchez 11-4, 11-4, 11-4); USA bt Japan 3-0 (Jullian Illingworth bt Jun Matsumoto 11-10 (2-0), 11-4, 11-7; Richard Chin bt Yuta Jiukui 11-9, 11-8, 11-6; Christopher Gordon bt Takanori Shimizu 11-7, 11-6, 11-6)

Group D: Australia bt New Zealand 3-0 (David Palmer bt Kashif Shuja 11-4, 11-2, 11-6; Cameron Pilley bt Martin Knight 11-4, 11-7, 11-7; Stewart Boswell bt Josh Greenfield 11-5, 11-3, 11-8)

Group E: Malaysia bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Mohd Azlan Bin Iskandar bt Saman Tilakaratne 11-6, 11-2, 11-5; Mohd Asyra Bin Azan bt Kavinda Cooray 11-3, 11-1, 11-5; Mohd Nafizawan bt Navin Samarasinghe 5-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-1); South Africa bt Kuwait 2-1 (Jesse Engeibeech bt Bader Al-Hussaini 11-7, 11-8, 11-6; Adnan Hansin bt Nasser Al-Ramezi 11-6, 11-6, 11-7; Stephen Coppinger lost to Abdullah Al-Mezayen 11-1, 10-11 (1-3), 10-11 (0-2), 3-11)

Group F: Canada bt Ireland 2-1 (Jonathan Power bt Liam Kenny 11-8, 11-6, 11-6; Mathew Giuffre bt Derek Ryan 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7; Shahir Razik lost to John Rooney 4-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-3, 8-11)

Group G: Pakistan bt Bermuda 3-0 (Mansoor Zaman bt Chase Toogood 11-4, 11-1, 11-6; Yasir Butt bt Robert Maycock 11-4, 11-8, 11-2; Farhan Mehboob bt Melrindo Caines 11-2, 11-0, 11-4); India bt Kenya 3-0 (Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Hardeep Reel 11-4, 11-10 (1-0), 11-10 (1-0); Gaurav Nandrajog bt Otto Kwach 11-5, 11-6, 11-9; Siddarth Suchde bt Hartaj Bains 11-2, 11-4, 11-3)

Group H: Sweden bt Chinese Taipei 3-0 (Christian Drakenberg bt Chun-Yu Chang 11-1, 11-1, 11-3; Gustav Detter bt Ching-Han Chen 11-2, 11-2, 11-1; Rasmus Hult bt Hsuen-Chih Huang 11-3, 11-2, 11-2); Wales bt Netherlands 2-1 (Alex cough bt Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6; Jethro Binns bt Tom Hoevenaars 11-6, 11-9, 11-4; David Evans lost to Dylan Bennett 2-11, 8-11, 7-11).—Agencies

Opinion

Editorial

Democracy in peril
Updated 21 Sep, 2024

Democracy in peril

The govt is forcing the SC into a direct confrontation with the legislature.
Far from finish line
21 Sep, 2024

Far from finish line

FROM six cases in the first half of the year, Pakistan has now gone to 18 polio cases. Of the total, 13 have been...
Brutal times
Updated 21 Sep, 2024

Brutal times

The latest string of chilling episodes confirm a pattern of unlawful police violence endorsed by mobs.
What now?
20 Sep, 2024

What now?

Govt's actions could turn the reserved seats verdict into a major clash between institutions. It is a risky and unfortunate escalation.
IHK election farce
20 Sep, 2024

IHK election farce

WHILE India will be keen to trumpet the holding of elections in held Kashmir as a return to ‘normalcy’, things...
Donating organs
20 Sep, 2024

Donating organs

CERTAIN philanthropic practices require a more scientific temperament than ours to flourish. Deceased organ donation...