South Africa, seeded 12th, caused a major surprise in the first round of the Women’s World Squash Championships in Edmonton, Canada, when they defeated defending champions Australia, the fifth seeds, 2-1.
Australia drew first blood when Kasey Brown outplayed Tenille Swartz in four games. South African captain Claire Nitch evened matters by defeating Melissa Martin in straight games. Left hander Diana Argyle clinched the match for South Africa when she beat Amelia Pittock, also in straight games.
Although Australia was weakened by the non-availability of the Grinham sisters, Rachel and Natalie, they were seeded seven places above the South Africans.
In the second round of the pool matches South Africa lost 3-0 to fourth seeds The Netherlands, but with their final match against 13th seeded Germany South Africa stand a good chance of reaching the knockout quarterfinals.
Top seeded England have yet to drop a game with whitewash victories against Ireland and Hong Kong. — Sapa
Results:
First Round: Pool A: 1-England bt 9-Ireland 3-0; 8-Hong Kong bt 16-Austria 3-0; Pool B: 2-Egypt bt 15-Spain 3-0; 10-France bt 7-Canada 2-1: Pool C: 3-Malaysia bt 11-United States 3-0; 6-New Zealand bt 14-Japan 3-0; Pool D: 4-Netherlands bt 13-Germany 2-1; 12-South Africa bt 5-Australia 2-1
Second Round: Pool A: England bt Hong Kong 3-0; Ireland bt Austria 3-0: Pool B: Egypt bt France 3-0; Canada bt Spain 3-0: Pool C: Malaysia bt New Zealand 2-1; United States bt Japan 2-1: Pool D: Australia bt Germany 3-0; Netherlands bt South Africa 3-0