India rallies to beat Japan, face Malaysia in semifinals of Squash WC

Second-seeded India bounced back to edge out Japan 3-1 in a Pool B match to top the group and enter the semifinals of the SDAT WSF Squash World Cup here on Thursday.

The hosts reached the semifinals of the championship for the first time, where they will play No.4 seeds Malaysia.

The India team comprising Abhay Singh, Joshna Chinappa, Saurav Ghosal and Tanvi Khanna were already guaranteed their place in the semi finals after two incredible 4-0 wins in their first two ties against Hong Kong China and South Africa but Thursday's victory meant that they avoid top seeds Egypt.

The team got off to a poor start when Abhay Singh lost in three games to Tomotaka Endo. In the next match, former World No.10 Joshna Chinappa was on hand to perform an incredible rescue act.

Despite going one game down to Satomi Watanabe - the top ranked player at the tournament - Chinappa showed incredible determination to come back, with the 36-year-old, who is also from Chennai, winning 2-7, 7-4, 3-7, 7-5, ...