Egypt & Pakistan To Contest World Junior Final Again

Favourites Egypt and second seeds Pakistan will meet in the final of the Prince Men's World Junior Team Championship for the second successive time after both teams achieved straight forward wins in today's semi-finals in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Egypt crushed third seeded England 3-0, with re-crowned world individual champion Ramy Ashour setting the standard with a 9-4 9-0 9-2 defeat of Tom Pashley.

Ashour was in high spirits after the match saying that he felt fully fit and comfortable despite 11 days of competition - and was looking forward to tomorrow's final. "The team is very close and we are all trying to stay focused for tomorrow and support each other," said the world No20.

Pakistan also won 3-0 against fourth seeds Malaysia, with all three matches secured in straight games. Malaysian number one Elvinn Keo came close to taking a game from Aamir Atlas Khan - the second seed in the individual event - but was ultimately beaten 9-4 10-8 9-1.

Egypt will be looking to avenge their defeat by Pakistan in the 2004 final - hoping to win the title for the first time since their maiden success the last time the event was held in New Zealand, in 1994.

Meanwhile, India and Germany will do battle in the play-off for fifth place after contrasting wins today. India, the seventh seeds, squeezed past fifth seeds Canada 2-1, with Harinder Pal Sandhu scoring the crucial victory in a five-game marathon against David Letourneau. Sixth seeds Germany made much lighter work in its clash against Hong Kong, strolling to a 3-0 victory.

Semi-finals:
[1] Egypt bt [3] England 3/0 (Ramy Ashour bt Tom Pashley 9-4 9-0 9-2; Omar Mosaad bt Joe Lee 9-1 9-2 (best of three); Tarek Momen bt James Snell 9-6 9-0 9-4)
[2] Pakistan bt [4] Malaysia 3/0 (Aamir Atlas Khan bt Elvinn Keo 9-4 10-8 9-1; Yasir Butt bt Choong Kam Hing 9-3 9-0 (best of tree); Farhan Mehboob bt Mohd Asyraf Azan 9-2 9-0 9-3)
5th -8th place play-offs
[7] India bt [5] Canada 2/1 (Sandeep Jangra lost to Keith Pritchard 2-9, 6-9, 9-6, 8-10; Harinder Pal Sandhu bt David Letourneau 2-9 7-9 9-5 9-2 9-4; Naresh Kumar bt Dave Glass 9-3 1-9 9-3 9-2)
[6] Germany bt [9] Hong Kong 3/0 (Simon Rosner bt Max Lee 9-0 9-4 9-5; Norman Junge bt Leo Au 9-5 5-9 9-3; Carsten Schoor bt Alan Tsang 9-1 9-0 9-5)