Kiwis boosted by redraw
While India have been dealt a bitter blow by the withdrawal of two key players on the eve of the CGG WSF Women’s World Team Squash Championship in China, a redraw has boosted New Zealand‘s chances of a place in the knockout stages of the biennial World Squash Federation in the city of Dalian, which gets underway next Tuesday.
Indian number one Joshna Chinappa is due to undergo emergency wisdom teeth surgery next week, while second string Dipika Pallikal Karthik aggravated an ankle injury this week in the China Open – leaving the Indian squad bereft of its two world top 20 players, both of whom were double bronze medallists in last week’s Asian Games.
India, formerly the seventh seeds, have been reseeded 11 – while former eighth seeds New Zealand, who were likely to have battled with 9th seeds Australia for the all-important second place in the qualifying pool, have now taken India’s place as the No.7 seeds in Pool B alongside No.2 seeds England, 10th seeds Japan, and Finland, seeded in the 13/16 group.
Only the top two teams in each of the four Pools will progress to the quarter-final knockout stage of the championship.
Revised Pool line-ups:
[table]Pool A, Pool B, Pool C, Pool D
[1] Egypt, [2] England, [3] USA, [4] Malaysia
[8] Canada, [7] New Zealand, [6] France, [5] Hong Kong China
[9] Australia, [10] Japan, [11] India, [12] South Africa
[13/16] Germany, [13/16] Finland, [13/16] China, [13/16] Switzerland
The first world squash championship ever to be held in China will take place at the Xigang Gymnasium in the Liaoning Province seaport from 11-16 September. The venue will feature two all-glass showcourts, with arena seating, plus four permanent all-glass courts.
All the event’s leading players are currently in action at the PSA World Tour season-opening JP Morgan China Open in Shanghai, where all four members of top seeds Egypt’s squad – all ranked in the world top six – are still in contention for the title, led by world No.1 Nour El Sherbini.
