Chaloner crucial to England's title

Squash

In an enthralling final, Mark Chaloner won the deciding rubber to give England victory over the defending champions, Pakistan, in the final of the World Team Championship in Cairo on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Lincoln player was drafted in at the last minute to replace Peter Marshall, the England No 1, who has chronic fatigue syndrome. The new recruit belied his relative international inexperience with a controlled and mature performance to beat Mir Zaman Gul 9-1, 9-3, 10-9 in 65 minutes.

Del Harris had set the standard in the first rubber with a 9-1, 9-2, 9-2 victory against Zarak Jahan in just 42 minutes, while Simon Parke fought hard against Jansher Khan before losing 2-9, 5-9, 4-9 in precisely an hour.

In his match, Chaloner resisted a determined fightback from 6-3 and 8-6 in the third game to survive a fierce tie-break and win by forcing his opponent into a weak back-hand retrieval boast to the tin for Britain's first victory in the event.