England avenged their earlier shock pool defeat to France by beating the third seeds 2/1 in the Bronze medal play-off.
Top string Charles Sharpes made up for his previous loss to Lucas Serme by fighting back from 2/1 down to overcome the Frenchman 14-12, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-5 in 76 minutes – the longest match of the tournament.
Emily Whitlock, the 17-year-old who pulled off the biggest win of her life 24 hours earlier when she beat Egypt’s world junior champion Nour El Tayeb for the first time, faced France’s Cyrielle Peltier.
The English teenager maintained her blistering form in Chennai to put away 19-year-old Peltier 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 in 31 minutes to clinch victory for the jubilant England team.
England’s earlier defeat by France led to the second favourites having to face overwhelming favourites Egypt in the semi-finals.
In the semi-final stage, favourites Egypt overcame England – but the second seeds surprisingly forced the tie into a decider after 17-year-old Emily Whitlock celebrated “my best win ever” by beating world junior champion Nour El Tayeb for the first time.
El Tayeb had won the three previous encounters with Whitlock and now boasts a world ranking of 18 after leaping to 12 three months ago. But it was a ‘new-look’ Whitlock, ranked 15 places lower, who took to the court on this occasion – and after 41 minutes of dazzling squash came away with an 11-8, 12-10, 11-9 victory, in all three games coming from behind.
Marwan El Shorbagy, the rapidly improving world junior champion who now boasts a world ranking of 33, put Egypt into the lead – but England’s Charles Sharpes stretched the match to four games before the 18-year-old from Alexandria claimed his 11-7, 12-14, 11-4, 11-6 win after 50 minutes.
England’s hopes of a place in the final were dashed however when the Egyptian number two Karim Abdel Gawad beat tall 18-year-old Declan James 11-7, 11-8, 11-9.
In a dramatic final which went the full distance, favourites Egypt eventually overcame surprise opponents India 2/1 in the final of the SDAT WSF Under-21 World Cup to deny the hosts a historic first world title in the inaugural World Squash Federation event before an ecstatic crowd at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai.
RESULTS: SDAT WSF U21 World Cup, Chennai, India
Semi-finals:
1 EGYPT bt 2 ENGLAND 2/1
Marwan El Shorbagy bt Charles Sharpes 11-7, 12-14, 11-4, 11-6 (50m)
Nour El Tayeb lost to Emily Whitlock 8-11, 10-12, 9-11 (41m)
Karim Abdel Gawad bt Declan James 11-7, 11-8, 11-9
4 INDIA bt 3 FRANCE 2/1
Ravi Dixit lost to Lucas Serme 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 7-11 (65m)
Dipika Pallikal bt Chloe Mesic 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 (26m)
Ramit Tandon bt Geoffrey Demont 11-5, 6-11, 11-2, 14-12 (57m)
Final:
1 EGYPT bt 4 INDIA 2/1
Marwan El Shorbagy bt Ravi Dixit 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 (58m)
Nour El Sherbini lost to Dipika Pallikal 7-11, 11-4, 11-8, 12-14, 5-11 (74m)
Karim Abdel Gawad bt Ramit Tandon 12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8 (67m)
Bronze medal play-off:
2 ENGLAND bt 3 FRANCE 2/0
Charles Sharpes bt Lucas Serme 14-12, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-5 (76m)
Emily Whitlock bt Cyrielle Peltier 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (31m)
Declan James v Geoffrey Demont (match withdrawn)
