Sunday, October 4, 2009

Canada finishes eighth at men's world team squash championships

ODENSE, Denmark – Egypt defeated France 2-1 to win the gold medal on Saturday at the men’s world team squash championships while Canada placed eighth overall.

In the championship, final, Gregory Gaultier provided number-three France a 1-0 lead but the top-seeded Egyptians came back with Ramy Ashour and Amr Shabana posting victories.

In the bronze medal match, fourth-seeded Australia overcame a 0-1 deficit to beat number-two England 2-1. Pakistan beat South Africa 2-0 for fifth.

Canada lost to Italy 2-0 in the seventh place match. Shahier Razik of Toronto fell to Marcus Berrett 14-12, 11-8, 11-1 and David Phillips of Pointe-Claire, Que., lost to Jose Facchini 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5. The Canadians were seeded seventh.

This week Canada went 2-0 in round robin play, defeated Scotland in the round of 16 before falling to Egypt in the quarterfinals. In the consolation playoff, Canada lost to Pakistan and Italy. Jonathon Power of Montreal and Shawn DeLierrre of Brossard, Que., were the other members of the Canadian team.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Canada falls to Pakistan, to play for seventh at men's world team squash championships

ODENSE, Denmark – Pakistan defeated Canada 3-0 on Friday in the men’s consolation semifinal at the men’s world team squash championships with the first two matches going the five-game distance.

Yasir Ali Butt defeated David Phillips of Pointe-Claire, Que., in the opener 11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 4-11, 11-8 and Aamir Atlas Khan clinched the match edging Shahier Razik of Toronto 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3. Farhan Mehboob beat Shawn DeLierre of Brossard, Que., in the third match 11-8, 11-2.

“We’ve had some tough matches in this tournament, “said Phillips. “My match was pretty weird. There was no rhythm and he won the first two matches quickly. That’s just the way he plays and he’s better at it than me.”Phillips said Canada, seeded seventh, entered the match confident it could beat number-six Pakistan.

“Pakistan had lost to South Africa earlier in the week and we felt good about the match-ups today,” said Phillips. “We’re pretty close so it’s a bit disappointing.”

Canadian number-one Jonathon Power of Montreal sat out the match after going five games and four games in Canada’s last two matches. Power retired from the pro circuit in 2006 but continues to play for Canada at major international events.

“Jonathon’s brought the team this far and he needed a break after some long matches,” said Phillips. “We need to take over and hopefully finish this tournament with a win.”

Canada plays Italy for seventh place on Saturday.

Meanwhile in the medal round semis, third-seeded France upset number-two England 2-1 while number-one Egypt bounced Australia 3-0.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Egypt defeats Canada in quarterfinals at men’s world team squash championships

ODENSE, Denmark – Jonathon Power of Montreal, Shahier Razik of Toronto and David Phillips of Pointe-Claire, Que., delivered strong efforts against three of the top players in the world on Thursday as Egypt defeated Canada 3-0 in the quarterfinals at the men’s world team squash championships.

Power, the former world number-one who retired from the pro circuit in 2006, lost the opening match to Amr Shabana 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7. Shahier Razik of Toronto then fell to Ramy Ashour by the exact same score 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7. Phillips, playing his first match of the tournament, lost the third game to Wael El Hindi 7-11, 11-6, 14-12.

Shabana and Ashour are currently ranked third and fourth in the world respectively and El Hindi is at number-13.

“I had to make sure I kept controlling the rallies,” Shabana told Squash Site about his match against Power. “He is such a shot maker that if you let him play the way he wants at the front you are in trouble. He surprised me in the second game, he came out firing.”

Canada entered the match having won its previous contests all by 3-0 scores.

“I wasn’t able to pace myself well enough today,” said Razik, currently ranked 30th in the world. “I pushed in patches but when we got to the third I was a bit flat. Ramy won the big points.”

Canada, seeded seventh, now goes to the consolation playoff round for positions five to eight. Canada was sixth at the last team worlds in 2007.

Magician is Alive and Well


From 2009 World Men's Team Championships En Bref;


"Boy Jonathon Power looks good and fit. When he was playing Khasif yesterday, you would have expected him to be a bit tired in the end, well, not at all. He is still the cat moving on the court, and keeping all his energy. Well today against Duracell Clyne, he had more problems, but still managed to close it up 3/2...."


See the full interview here: http://www.squashsite.co.uk/worldteams/en_bref.htm

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Power win puts Canada in quarterfinals at men’s world team squash championships

ODENSE, Denmark – Former world number-one Jonathon Power of Montreal had his hands full in his match but prevailed to clinch Canada’s 3-0 victory over Scotland in the round of 16 on Wednesday at the men’s world team squash championships.

Shahier Razik of Toronto opened the match with a comfortable 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 victory over Stuart Crawford in 25 minutes.

In the second match, Power also appeared headed to a straight games victory over Alan Clyne after winning the first two games. The 23-year-old Clyne turned the tables on the Canadian and nearly caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. In the end Power won the match 11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 6-11, 11-2 in 63 minutes.

“It was a harder match than I expected,” said Power, 35. “It was a very bouncy court and Clyne was very fit. Even though I was making him run he kept hanging on and I got a bit tired. I wanted to make sure I saved some strength for the fifth game and it managed to work out.”

Editors note: There is a great recap of the Power vs Clyne match from this afteroon here: http://www.squashsite.co.uk/worldteams/today.htm

Shawn DeLierre of Brossard, Que., won the third match 11-7, 16-14 over Chris Small.

Canada, seeded seventh, faces number-one Egypt in its quarterfinal on Thursday.

“Our team is really pumped about our performances so far,” said Power, competing at his 10th team worlds. “We reached a big goal by making the top-eight. We know we face a difficult task in our next match but we’re confident we can end this tournament in strong fashion.”

The Canada-Egypt match will be carried live on-line at http://profuivs01.dedicated.cohaesio.net/ at 7 a.m (EDT)

Power prevails in 5 to clinch win for Canada over Scotland

Canada defeated Scotland 3-0 this afternoon (1pm local time) to move into the quarter finals. Shahier Razik started team Canada off strong with a straight games win over Stuart Crawford. According to Squashsite.co.uk "Staurt was not happy with his game, he thought he didn't played well, but then again, thats what Shahier does to you, he sucks you into his own game, and prevents you from attacking in good conditions, as he pins you way back ..." In an unusual turn of events Shahier defeated Crawford in just 25 minutes. Razik, who normally plays a much slower pace believes the up temp match may have caught Stuart off guard, "I've been tyring to keep the pace up on my game recently, trying to get off court as quick as I can, and I think I probably took him off guard, he was probably expecting a much slower pace ..."

Next up for the Canadians was Jonathon Power, who for the first time in the tournamnet was tested, needing all 5 games to defeat Alan Clyne in a 63 minute marathon.

With the match clinched Shawn Delierre defeated Chris Small 2-0 in the dead rubber.

Canada will now play the number 1 seed Egypt in the Quarter Finals tomorrow at 1:00pm local time (7am EST). The match will be streamed live, for free here: http://www.247.tv/?men=PAGE74&tourid=09wstc01