Canada Outplays New Zealand at World Team Squash Championships
The Canadian team concluded its round-robin play schedule at this week’s men’s world team squash championships in Odense, Denmark with a resounding win over New Zealand 3-0. This signified the team’s entry to the final sixteen since it has yet to lose a match.
Quebec’s Shawn DeLierre won a marathon match against Martin Knight 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 which lasted an hour and 15 minutes of squash balls flying around. Montreal’s Jonathan Power blasted past Kashif Shuja 11-4, 11-6, 11-6. Power is a former world number one player who has decided to quit professional squash but still represents the country in major international tournament such as this one.
Yvon Provencal, national team coach, stated that DeLierre’s win boosted the moral of the team since the pressure is now off for other players because the victory was already assured.
Toronto’s Shahier Razik still exerted effort to beat Cambell Grayson 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 to make it a 3-0 wipeout win for the Canadians.
Team Canada is seeded seventh in this tournament. The team is slated to meet unseeded Scotland in the final sixteen. The Scottish team has been making huge upsets in its pool, including a stunning win over ninth-seed India.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan team made its way to the final sixteen after winning past Kenya and Sweden respectively. Headed by world no. 14 Aamir Atlas Khan, the Pakistani team met little resistance from its lower-seeded competitors and even won its matches without losing a set.
