Egypt quell Malaysian fight to title

Chennai: The outcome of Saturday’s summit clash hinged on one of the tournament’s most exciting match-ups. Two teenagers on the ascendance in world squash, battling it out for their respective nations’ glory. Egypt’s Fayrouz Abouelkheir, 17, tipped as a potential future World No. 1, and Malaysia’s rapidly-rising 18-year-old Aira Azman — unbeaten in the event so far.Aira had emerged the victor in the intense group-stage clash between the two, but it was Fayrouz who reigned supreme in the final of the Squash World Cup, powered by HCL, at the Express Avenue mall here.
Fayrouz’s win ensured that the defending champions and overwhelming favourites Egypt lifted the trophy again despite the absence of their first-choice players. The squash heavyweight’s young guns carried the weight of expectations admirably and completed the job with a 2-1 margin on Saturday.
Fayrouz began the match with much more authority and stroke clarity than she did in her previous match against Aira, and the Malaysian on the other hand did not have the best of starts. Fayrouz’s robust retrieving and well-directed shots forced Aira to go searching for low winners through drops and drives. A string of forehand errors ensued instead, which put the 18-year-old on the backfoot right away. She lost the first two games, and it was always an uphill task from there on.
Nevertheless, Aira tried to forge her way back into the contest, carefully crafting openings after drawing Fayrouz to the court front. The girl from Kedah clinched the third game and saved three championship points in the following game, but could not save the fourth one to go down fighting 4-7, 5-7, 7-6, 6-7.
Earlier, World No. 79 Xin Ying Yee put Malaysia in front with a straight-games win against the 56th-ranked Kenzy Ayman. The southpaw put Kenzy under pressure with the angles she created, and kept finishing off rallies quickly to sustain her momentum. In the third game, Xin Ying saved three game balls and converted her first match ball to end with a 7-4, 7-5, 7-6 scoreline.
The unexpected early setback could have rattled the Egyptians, but out strode a determined Aly Abou Eleinen and calmed the nerves immediately. He was up against an invigorated Darren Pragasam, who had grown in confidence after his tie-winning victory the previous day against the seasoned Saurav Ghosal. None of that seemed to affect Aly Abou, who, despite suffering a cut on the face after a collision with Darren, played with precision to shut out the Malaysian 7-3, 7-6, 7-4.
Results: Final: Egypt defeat Malaysia 2-1.