It became clear after Pakistan went down to Czech Republic 1-2 in its opening Group F match at the ISA court on Wednesday. Pakistan did later redeem itself with a 3-0 win over lower-ranked Zimbabwe. Pakistan with a loss however had to settle for the number two spot, with Czech Republic taking the top place in the Group. 

An India-Pakistan match is always special, a high-pressure contest and an occasion that brings about an extra interest among sports fans. On paper India is seeded higher at number five to Pakistan’s 11 and from the look of the teams, there is optimism in the Indian ranks of a positive outcome. And, if it does come that will be a historic moment. India has never beaten Pakistan in squash in the world championship. 

In the two earlier meetings Pakistan had got the better of India, once in 2006 in a Group league and in 2008 in the semi-final. The match against Czech Republic gave a glimpse of the Pakistan’s current strength and the performance did not reflect high of a team that is defending a reputation of being the reigning champion. Except for Haris Qasim, who is the number three player of the side, the other two, Abbas Zeb and Muhammad Uzair could not cope with the pressure. Abbas had bounced back from two games down against Viktor Byrtus but could not end up a winner. Muhammad Uzair too failed against Ondrej Vorlicek, with Czechs finishing as winners. Among other matches, Malaysia had a struggle against France. Even its top palyer Darren Rahul Pragasam was stretched to five games. Number two seed Canada managed a 2-1 win over Argentina, another close match that ended on a facile note with James Flynn making short work of Jeremias Azana for the team’s victory.

GROUP B: Canada bt Argentina 2-1 (George Crowne bt Dylan Tymkiw 7-11 2-11 11-7 11-2 11-4; Julien Gosset bt Miguel Gonzalo Pujol 7-11 11-9 3-11 11-2 4-11;  James Flynn bt Jeremias Azaña 11-8 11-7 11-3) GROUP D: Malaysia bt France 2-1 (Shahrul Izham Nurhaqiem bt Adrien Douillard 11-13 9-11 11-2 14-12 11-7; Darren Rahul Pragasam bt Edwin Clain 12-10 1-11 11-5 5-11 11-5; Siow Yee Xian bt Toufik Mekhalfi 10-12 11-2 11-7 11-13 10-12) 

GROUP F: Czech Republic bt Pakistan 2-1 (Marek Panacek lost to Haris Qasim 5-11 6-11 6-11; Viktor Byrtus bt Abbas Zeb 11-9 11-5 9-11 4-11 11-9; Ondrej Vorlicek bt Muhammad Uzair 11-4 11-6 6-11 11-4); Pakistan bt Zimbabwe 3-0 (Haris Qasim bt Aedan Martin 11-2, 11-2,11-5; Abbas Zeb bt Tayne Turnock 11-7, 11-2, 11-5; Muhammad Uzair bt Alfalfa Porter 13-11, 11-8, 11-7) 

GROUP G: New Zealand bt Qatar 3-0 (Anthony Lepper bt Ahmad Al-Muraikhi 11-2 11-1 11-3; Matthew Lucente bt Hamad Al-Amri 11-9 11-6 11-5; Temwa Chileshe bt Ibrahim Darwish 11-7 11-7 11-5) 

GROUP H: USA lost to Hong Kong, China 0-3 (Ayush Menon lost to Chan Chi Ho 4-11 12-14 11-13;  Daelum Mawji bt Chung Yat Long 8-11 2-11 5-11; Tiber Worth bt Ho Ka Hei 11-6 6-11 7-11 5-11)