KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s hopes of making the quarter-finals were dashed after going down 2-0 to England in the round of 16 of the men’s World Team Squash Championship at the Mercury Arena in Tauranga, New Zealand today.
England drew first blood when Patrick Rooney trounced 19-year-old Ameeshenraj Chandaran 11-1, 11-3, 11-5.
World number five and Egyptian-born Mohamed Elshorbagy sealed the winning point for England when he disposed of national number two Addeen Idrakie 11-6, 11-4, 11-8.
Addeen later admitted that they were no match for England.
Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) coaching director Major (Rtd) S. Maniam acknowledged as much, saying the players made mistakes which affected their overall display.
Despite the defeat, Maniam said the 29-year-old Addeen deserved a pat on the back for a brave effort against Elshorbagy.
“But still he was not up to the level of Elshorbagy, who is a great player. Addeen gave his best but just did not have the pace, power and aggression to match his opponent,” he said in an audio recording which SRAM shared with the media today.
Malaysia will play either Canada or Germany in the ninth to 16th classification match.
Malaysia kicked off their Group A campaign with a 2-1 win over Ireland on Monday before losing 3-0 to defending champions Egypt the next day. — December 14, 2023