Top Seeds To Contest World Championship Semi-Finals In Chennai

Favourites Egypt will take on fourth seeds Australia and defending champions England will face third seeds France in the semi-finals of the ICL Men's World Team Championship after the top four top teams earned comfortable victories in today's quarter-finals in the Indian city of Chennai.

Just 24 hours after celebrating their first appearance in the quarter-finals for almost 30 years, hosts India, the tenth seeds, were brought down to earth by Egypt in a 3/0 defeat. India's Ritwik Bhattacharya put up a brave fight against Wael El Hindi before going down 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-8 to the Egyptian No4, ranked 14 in the world, in 44 minutes. The 47 ranking positions that separate Saurav Ghosal from Amr Shabana, the world No1 and world champion, were too much for the Indian No1 - who went down 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 in 30 minutes to guarantee the favourites a place in the last four.

In their first meeting in the event for four years, Egypt will face Australia for a place in the final. The eight times champions fielded a full-strength squad against Canada, the sixth seeds who were resting top string Jonathon Power. But after Australian No2 Stewart Boswell dismissed Matthew Giuffre 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 in 33 minutes, Canadian Shahier Razik tested experienced former world champion David Palmer for over an hour before the world No4 from New South Wales finally claimed the 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 victory which assured the fourth seeds a place in the semis.

Defending champions England also dropped games for the first time in the competition before overcoming surprise opponents Netherlands, the No8 seeds. Squad No2 James Willstrop was taken to four games by Tom Hoevenaars before beating the 20-year-old Dutchman 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8.

But world No5 Nick Matthew maintained his clean sheet in Chennai by beating Dutch No1 Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 11-6, 11-9. The 40-minute victory ensures that England extends the impressive record of reaching at least the semi-finals in all appearances (14) in the event since their debut in 1981!

In a repeat of a memorable semi-final clash in Austria in 2003, second seed England will face France. With both sides featuring full-strength squads, France took on Malaysia, the fifth seeds. Former world No1 Thierry Lincou put the Europeans into the lead by beating Ong Beng Hee 11-9, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0). Making his debut this year as the French No1, Gregory Gaultier needed four games to overcome Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 - the 48-minute victory taking France into the last four for the third time in a row.

In the lower play-off clashes, Chinese Taipei rounded off their maiden appearance in the event with a courageous performance against Russia. In anticipation of hosting the World Games in 2009, Chinese Taipei presented the youngest squad in the championship - and today's 25th-29th place play-off featured the youngest and oldest players in the competition.

Sergey Kostrykin, at 43, the event's most 'senior citizen', put Russia ahead with an 11-3, 11-2, 9-11, 11-4 win over 16-year-old Chuang Kai-Han. Russia went on to clinch the tie after the second match, but it was the dead rubber in which the youngest competitor, Chinese Taipei's 14-year-old Chen Ching-Han, battled for glory against Valery Litvinko. The 29-year-old Russian prevailed, however, winning 11-8, 11-6.

Widely believed to be the player boasting the most World Team Championships' appearances, Irishman Derek Ryan celebrated his 38th birthday today in fine style - helping 11th seeds Ireland to a 3/0 win over New Zealand, the 13th seeds. After John Rooney and Liam Kenny gained victories over Kiwis Campbell Grayson and Kashif Shuja, respectively, Ryan despatched 23-year-old New Zealand No4 Martin Knight 11-5, 11-3 to ensure Ireland a place in the 9th-12th place play-offs.

Quarter-finals (playing order 2-1-3):
[1] EGYPT bt [10] INDIA 3-0
Wael El Hindi bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-8 (44m)
Amr Shabana bt Saurav Ghosal 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 (30m)
Mohammed Abbas bt Siddharth Suchde 11-6, 11-8 (22m)

[4] AUSTRALIA bt [6] CANADA 3-0
Stewart Boswell bt Matthew Giuffre 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 (33m)
David Palmer bt Shahier Razik 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (64m)
Cameron Pilley bt Shawn Delierre 11-3, 11-7 (16m)

[3] FRANCE bt [5] MALAYSIA 3-0
Thierry Lincou bt Ong Beng Hee 11-9, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0) (36m)
Gregory Gaultier bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 (48m)
Renan Lavigne bt Muhd Asyraf Azan 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 11-5

[2] ENGLAND bt [8] NETHERLANDS 3-0
James Willstrop bt Tom Hoevenaars 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 (40m)
Nick Matthew bt Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 (40m)
Peter Barker bt Piedro Schweertman 11-4, 11-2 (20m)

9th - 16th place play-offs:
[9] WALES bt [15] HONG KONG 2-1
Rob Sutherland lost to Max Lee 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11 (52m)
David Evans bt Dick Lau 11-10 (3-1), 11-9, 11-4 (49m)
Jethro Binns bt Anson Kwong 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)

[12] SOUTH AFRICA bt [14] USA 2-1
Adrian Hansen bt Christopher Gordon 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (35m)
Jesse Engelbrecht bt Julian Illingworth 11-9, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) (57m)
Clinton Leeuw lost to Jamie Crombie 9-11, 5-11 (20m)

[11] IRELAND bt [13] NEW ZEALAND 3-0
John Rooney bt Campbell Grayson 11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 2-11, 11-9 (66m)
Liam Kenny bt Kashif Shuja 11-7, 11-7, 10-11 (3-5), 11-8 (52m)
Derek Ryan bt Martin Knight 11-5, 11-3 (18m)

[7] PAKISTAN bt [16] GERMANY 2-1
Farhan Mehboob bt Tim Weber 8-11, 11-5, 11-0, 11-3 (35m)
Aamir Atlas Khan bt Simon Rosner 11-2, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 (40m)
Yasir Butt lost to Moritz Dahmen 10-11 (0-2), 10-11 (1-3) (18m)

17th - 24th place play-offs:
[17/24] SWEDEN bt [17/24] FINLAND 2-1
Badr Abdel Aziz bt Matias Tuomi 11-10 (4-2), 11-4, 11-5 (37m)
Christian Drakenberg lost to Olli Tuominen 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-2, 6-11 (46m)
Rasmus Hult bt Henrik Mustonen 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5 (51m)

[17/24] JAPAN bt [17/24] AUSTRIA 2-1
Takanori Shimizu bt Jakob Dirnberger 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 (31m)
Jun Matsumoto lost to Aqeel Rehman 7-11, 3-11, 5-11 (29m)
Yuta Fukui bt Andreas Freudensprung 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (4-2) (35m)

[17/24] SCOTLAND bt [17/24] KUWAIT 2-1
Stuart Crawford lost to Abdullah Almezayen 2-11, 5-11, 10-11 (0-2) (27m)
Alan Clyne bt Bader Al Hussaini 11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 3-11, 11-8 (79m)
Harry Leitch bt Mohammed Hajeyah 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (49m)

[17/24] SPAIN bt [17/24] KENYA 3-0
Alejandro Garbi Caro bt Hartaj Bains 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (27m)
David Vidal bt Hardeep Reel 11-10 (5-3), 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 11-6 (48m)
Arturo Santo Tomas bt Otto Kwach 9-11, 11-8, 11-5 (25m)

25th - 29th place play-off:
[25/29] RUSSIA bt [25/29] CHINESE TAIPEI 3-0
Sergey Kostrykin bt Chuang Kai-Han 11-3, 11-2, 9-11, 11-4 (19m)
Alexei Severinov bt Chang Chun-Yu 11-0, 11-4, 11-0 (15m)
Valery Litvinko bt Chen Ching-Han 11-8, 11-6 (12m)