WSF World Cup: India breeze past South Africa, to face Egypt in semifinals

CHENNAI: It has been a smooth sailing for India at the Squash World Cup and on Friday, the hosts cruised into the semifinals after steamrolling South Africa 3-0 at the Express Avenue Mall here.India No. 1 Abhay Singh is yet to drop a game in this tournament, and he has celebrated every win by tossing his racquet into the crowd. “Abhay is one of those players who feeds off the energy of a crowd,” India coach Harinder Pal Sandhu said, and rightly so. After his 3-0 (7-1, 7-6, 7-1) win over Dewald van Niekerk in the second match of the last-eight tie, Abhay said: “It is my home city, I thought why shouldn’t I give them something to be excited about? I can’t do it here after; I won’t have racquets left to play (laughs).”While Abhay’s match was halted for close to 15 minutes due to a power cut at the glass court, the pause did little to disrupt his rhythm. He was drawn into long rallies, saved a game ball, and then eased through the rest of the contest, doubling India’s lead. Before Abhay stepped in, crowd favourite Joshna Chinappa had lit up the venue, drawing shoppers’ attention to the glass court as she breezed past Teagan Russell 3-0 (7-4, 7-4, 7-2) in under 15 minutes. In the end, teenager Anahat Singh put the tie to bed after bulldozing Hayley Ward 3-0 (7-3, 7-3, 7-4).India will next run into Egypt’s lower-string team in their semifinal tie on Saturday. But the Egyptians’ strong run this week has shown why the nation is a squash powerhouse. Earlier in the day, they prevailed 3-0 over Australia, and Abhay said that India will have a tough task against them. “Egypt is Egypt for a reason. They always send a message; and the way they have performed this week says enough. But I have some great teammates, and I trust them to deliver,” Abhay said.Meanwhile, top seeds Hong Kong made short work of Switzerland with a commanding 3-0 win and will face Japan for a place in the final.Results: India bt South Africa 3-0; Hong Kong bt Switzerland 3-0; Japan drew with Malaysia 2-2 (Japan won on game difference); Egypt bt Australia 3-0. Semifinal line-up: India Vs Egypt; Hong Kong Vs Japan.