Egypt Seeded To Retain World Junior Title

Egypt are seeded to retain their title in the Men's World Junior Team Championship in Switzerland according to the interim seedings revealed today by the World Squash Federation.

A record 32 nations - including the Cayman Islands, China, Ecuador and Guatemala for the first time - will contest the biennial championships in Zurich from 2-7 August, following the Men's World Junior Championship, which runs from 28 July to 1 August.

The final seeding order will be decided on semi-finals day of the Individual Championship after the final squad submissions are lodged that day - and thereafter the draw will be made.

The young Egyptian squad will be led by Mohamed El Shorbagy, the 17-year-old world No62 from Alexandria. But Egypt will undoubtedly face tough opposition from Pakistan, winners of the title in 2002 and 2004 and provisionally named as second seeds in 2008.

Pakistan will be led by Aamir Atlas Khan, the world No23 from Peshawar who celebrates his 18th birthday during the individual championships - in which he has been nominated as top seed.

England, winners of the title three successive times between 1996 and 2000, are the third seeds, while Malaysia are the No4 seeds.

Full Interim Seeding:
1 EGYPT
2 PAKISTAN
3 ENGLAND
4 MALAYSIA
5 FRANCE
6 HONG KONG
7 INDIA
8 GERMANY
9 AUSTRALIA
10 NEW ZEALAND
11 CANADA
12 SWITZERLAND
13 USA
14 FINLAND
15 SOUTH AFRICA
16 WALES

17/24 (in alphabetic order):
BELGIUM
CZECH REPUBLIC
DENMARK
IRELAND
KUWAIT
NETHERLANDS
SPAIN
SWEDEN

25/32 (in alphabetic order):
BERMUDA
CAYMAN ISLANDS
CHINA
ECUADOR
GUATEMALA
ITALY
NIGERIA
VENEZUELA