HK sweeps the board at squash c'ships

JAKARTA (JP): Hong Kong's squash team yesterday proved that "the winner takes it all" is not just an ABBA song.

The British Crown Colony grabbed all titles on offer at the 20th East Asian Squash Championships which ended yesterday at the Pertamina squash courts in Simprug, South Jakarta.

The territory yesterday completed its clean sweep by winning the men's team event and the women's team event. A week before, on June 24, it had already taken both the men's and the women's individual titles.

As with the individual events, the Hong Kong players, led by world number 36 Abdul Faheem Khan, easily did away with their team event opponents. In all six matches played for the men's team event, Hong Kong won. Singapore finished second after recording one loss and Malaysia third with two losses.

The same pattern held true for the women's team event. Hong Kong suffered no losses at all. The Philippines followed in second place with one loss and Japan in third place with two.

Host Indonesia finished sixth, both in the men's as well as in the women's team events, far off target.

Muliana Sukardi, chairman of the organizing committee, had said at the beginning of the championships on June 20, "We hope that our men's team can finish among the top three." No target had been set for the country's women's team.

Two years ago, at the championships in Manila, Hong Kong took the men's team, the men's individual and the women's individual gold medals, with Malaysia winning the remaining titles. (arf)