17th Women's World Teams
Squash Championships 2010
Palmerston North, New Zealand
28th November - 4 December 2010
A tough assignment for the Ireland women's squash team in Palmerston North.
Madeline Perry, Aisling Blake, Laura Mylotte and Zoe Barr visited Our Lady of Lourdes school yesterday, to meet the students who are their adopted fans for the Women's World Team Squash Championships this week. All 16 nations competing at the tournament have been adopted by a local school, an initiative which has found favour with the players.
The Irish team were put to the test by the students who asked some rather searching questions, including 'when did the Ireland team first compete?' and 'why is it called squash?'
Ireland number one Madeline Perry says it wasn't the line of questioning they expected, but fortunately they managed to offer some answers.
"Luckily our tracksuits have the 75th anniversary of Ireland Squash written on them so we were able to work backwards from there. As for why it's called squash, Aisling bluffed her way through it with a vivid description of the way the ball squashes against the wall"
"She was surprised as anybody when it turned out that was the right answer!"
Ireland plays Australia in the last round of pool play today, with both teams having already qualified for the quarterfinals.
Day three schedule
12:30pm
Pool B
2. Australia vs 7. Ireland
10. India vs 15. Japan
Pool C
3. Egypt vs 14. Mexico
6. France vs 11. South Africa
5:00pm
Pool A
1. England vs 16. Austria
8. Netherlands vs 9. USA
Pool D
4. Malaysia vs 5. New Zealand
12. Canada vs 13. Hong Kong China
Full draw/results...www.womensworldsquash2010.co.nz
Gary Denvir
Media Manager
Women's World Team Squash Championships
027 273 946
Pool B
(2) Australia vs (7) Ireland
Both teams have already qualified for the quarter-finals so Ireland has taken the opportunity to rest their number one Madeline Perry. The Australians have looked like the team to beat in the opening two days and are likely to post another comfortable win over the weakened Irish line-up.
Prediction: Australia 3-0
(10) India vs (15) Japan
India looks a dead cert to get its first win of the championships but is taking nothing for granted in naming its top three players for the tie against Japan. The Japanese are also winless at this stage, and despite a solid performance against Ireland yesterday, that is unlikely to change today.
Prediction: India 3-0
Pool C
(3) Egypt vs (14) Mexico
A day off for Egyptian number one Omneya Abdel Kawy today, but even without the world number four, the third seeds look set to do it easy against Mexico. The 14th seeds had a tough battle against South Africa yesterday and will have to lift themselves again to avoid a heavy defeat.
Prediction: Egypt 3-0
(6) France vs (11) South Africa
France’s confidence will have taken a knock after being crushed by Egypt and they will need to regroup quickly if they want to reach the last eight. On paper they would be expected to beat the South Africans, but with a quarterfinal spot up for grabs, it would be foolish to write the 11th seeds off.
Prediction: France 2-1
