KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia lost to defending champions and top seeds Egypt 0-3 in their 2023 WSF Men’s World Team Championship Group A match in Tauranga, New Zealand, today.
Malaysia’s young player Hafiz Zhafri lost 1-11, 7-11 and 2-11 to Egypt’s Youssef Soliman, ranked world number 12, before Sanjay Jeeva was defeated by Ali Farag, the world number one and world champion, 11-6, 11-5, and 11-4.
In the third and final encounter, C. Ameeshenraj went down to Mazen Hesham, ranked seventh in the world, 4-11, 5-11 and 10-12.
Meanwhile, Squash Rackets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) coaching director Major (Rtd) S Maniam said the match was a good platform for all three youngsters who were fielded today, to gain experience and learn a few fine points about playing against the top 10 players in the world.
“As expected, it was a very tough match. We decided to give Muhammad Addeen Idrakie Bahtiar a bit of a rest and expose the younger players to the match.
“I must say that all three of them played their hearts out and gave it everything they had so they learned a thing or two about the quality of the top 10 players in the world, including the world champion himself, Ali Faraq.
“Tomorrow we have a rest day, followed by a match against England on Thursday and that would be equally tough, but we will give it our best.
“We are now guaranteed top 16 and we want to try and finish top 12,” he said in an audio recording shared to the media today.
The championship is being held in Tauranga, New Zealand from Dec 11 to 17. — December 12, 2023