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arrow pointing leftBack 17 September 18 - by England Squash

England claim silver at Women's World Team Championships 2018

Howard Harding reports

England fulfilled their seeding, clinching silver at the CGG WSF Women's World Team Squash Championships in China after falling to perennial rivals and top seeds Egypt 2/0 in the final of the biennial World Squash Federation event.

It was the two nations' fifth meeting in the final since 2006 and Egypt's fourth triumph over the seven-times champions.

Things looked to be going the way of the favourites early in the opening match between the third strings Nouran Gohar and Londoner Alison Waters.

Nouran Gohar and Alison Waters

Gohar raced to a two-game lead – but Alison Waters, earning her 140th international cap for England, battled back to level the match. After nearly an hour, Gohar finally overcame Waters, winning 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7 in 55 minutes.

England's Laura Massaro faced Egyptian Raneem El Welily - both former world number ones. The match was the pair's 31st meeting since May 2004 - with the English player having a 19-11 head-to-head advantage going into the match.

Laura Massaro and Raneem El Welily

El Welily, the reigning world No.2, took a two-game lead over Massaro before the Lancastrian reduced the deficit by winning the third game. But the fourth game was a short affair, El Welily dropping just three points before winning 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3 to hand the title to Egypt.

England National Coach David Campion said: "We were fairly confident Alison might be able to get us off to a decent start with her track record against Gohar. But, to be fair, both Raneem and Gohar played really well for Egypt - both played superb squash. And from 2/0 down when Al came back I thought she might be able to do - but it wasn't to be.

"They both gave it everything. Laura's match with Raneem was a quality match. Raneem was superb and when she plays like that she's very difficult - she beats everybody when she plays like that.

"We can't really be too disappointed with the outcome when you see the level of squash they play at today.

"It's another silver medal against Egypt. We'll keep fighting away and hopefully keep as competitive as this going forward!"

RESULTS: CGG WSF Women's World Team Squash Championships 2018, Dalian, China

Final:
[1] EGYPT bt [2] ENGLAND 2/0
Nouran Gohar bt Alison Waters 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7 (55m)
Raneem El Welily bt Laura Massaro 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3 (36m)

Bronze medallists: [5] HONG KONG CHINA & [6] FRANCE

5th place play-off:
[3] USA bt [4] MALAYSIA 2/0
Sabrina Sobhy bt Aifa Azman 11-5, 15-13, 11-8 (23m)
Amanda Sobhy bt Nicol David 6-11, 11-9, 11-3, 12-10 (32m)

7th place play-off:
[8] CANADA bt [7] NEW ZEALAND 2/0
Nikki Todd bt Abbie Palmer 4-11, 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 (27m)
Samantha Cornett bt Amanda Landers-Murphy 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7 (35m)

9th place play-off:
[9] AUSTRALIA bt [12] SOUTH AFRICA 2/1
Sarah Cardwell bt Milnay Louw 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (21m)
Donna Lobban lost to Alexandra Fuller 12-10, 8-11 ret. (21m)
Christine Nunn bt Elani Landman 11-2, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 (34m)

11th place play-off:
[10] JAPAN bt [11] INDIA 2/1
Ayumi Watanabe lost to Aparajitha Balamurukan 6-11, 3-11, 5-11 (16m)
Satomi Watanabe bt Sunayna Kuruvilla 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (20m)
Risa Sugimoto bt Tanvi Khanna 9-11, 11-5, 3-11, 12-10, 13-11 (46m)

13th place play-off:
[13/16] SWITZERLAND bt [13/16] GERMANY 2/0
Celine Walser bt Saskia Beinhard 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4 (30m)
Nadia Pfister bt Franziska Hennes 9-11, 15-13, 11-9, 11-8 (40m)

15th place play-off:
[13/16] FINLAND bt [13/16] CHINA 2/1
Riina Koskinen bt Ying Dou 11-1 ret.
Emilia Soini lost to Li Dongjin 9-11, 6-11, 6-11 (18m)
Emilia Korhonen bt Jenny Peng 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-2 (26m)

For draws, results and photos visit wsfwomensteams.com

Dalian images courtesy of Guoxiaoming