India crash out of medal reckoning in World Team Squash

Bengaluru, December 1: India are out of medal reckoning in the World Squash Federation (WSF) men's team championship after going down 0-3 to defending champion and second seed England in the quarterfinals.

India will now play for the 5-8 placement matches in the 25th edition of the WSF's biennal tournament being held at the Modern Squash Centre in Marseille, France.

India No.1 Saurav Ghosal put up a good fight in the opener and stretched world No.6 Nick Matthew to five games but eventually the British national prevailed 11-6, 6-11,11-7, 10-12, 11-9.

Harinder Pal Sandhu, who took the court next, could do little against experienced campaigner Daryl Selby. The Englishman gave little away and posted a convincing 11-2, 11-4, 11-2 win to seal the tie for England.

In the dead rubber, James Willstrop doused the enthusiasm of Vikram Malhotra 11-4, 9-11, 11-8.

Earlier, Mahesh Mangaonkar did the star turn to help eighth-seed India upset seventh seeded Germany 2-1 to qualify for the quarterfinal.

India storm into World Team Squash quarters

It was a good comeback by India, who had suffered a shock loss to Malaysia in the qualifying stage. They made it to the knockout round though by virtue of their second-place finish in the group also featuring Austria.