New Zealand & Finland Produce Surprises In Zurich

After a full day of final qualifying action in the Men's World Junior Team Championship in Zurich, New Zealand and Finland emerged as the only nations to produce upsets on the second day of the biennial World Squash Federation championship being held for the first time in Switzerland.

After beating event debutantes China 3/0 in the opening tie of the day, ninth seeds New Zealand faced Hong Kong, the eighth seeds, in the decider in Pool H. Cameron Jamieson got the Kiwi team off to a winning start, outlasting Fung Ji Yang 5-9, 9-1, 4-9, 9-6, 2-5, with the Hong Kong player forced to retire with cramp after 73 minutes on court.

However, Leo Au levelled the tie for the Asian side, handing the New Zealand number one Evan Williams his first defeat of the teams event, with a 9-3, 10-9, 9-5 victory in 50 minutes.

That left Alex Grayson the task of winning the tie for New Zealand, which he duly achieved with a 9-3, 9-3, 9-4 victory over Nelson Chan in the battle of the number threes.

In the last sixteen round knockout stage, New Zealand now face tenth seeds Canada for a place in the quarter-finals.

Finland, seeded in the 17/24 group, are now sure of a top 16 finish after upsetting 16th seeds Wales in the final encounter in Pool A. While pool favourites Egypt, the title-holders, made sure of qualification by beating Ecuador 3/0 to top the pool table, Finland fought back from a match down to beat Wales 2/1 to claim second place.

Welsh hopes were high when squad number three Sam Fenwick beat Joonas Honkanen 9-6, 9-7, 2-9, 9-4 in the opening match. But the Finnish top string Henrik Mustonen struck back to beat Hywel Robinson 9-3, 9-1, 9-5, before Ville Hiltunen sealed victory for the underdogs with a 10-8, 9-4, 10-9 win over David Haley.

Finland now face second seeds Pakistan in the last sixteen round after the 2006 runners-up coasted to victory in Pool B with comprehensive 3/0 wins over both Kuwait and Bermuda.

Final qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] EGYPT bt [16] WALES 3-0
Karim Abdel Gawad bt Sam Huxtable 9-1, 9-2, 9-6
Andrew Wagih Shoukry bt Hywel Robinson 9-5, 9-3, 9-6
Amr Khaled Khalifa bt Sam Fenwick 9-3, 9-0, 9-4
[17/24] FINLAND bt [25/31] ECUADOR 3-0
Joonas Honkanen bt Orlando Rodriguez Ordonez 9-2, 9-5, 9-1
Henrik Mustonen bt Daniel Cueva Mosquera 9-7, 9-1, 9-2
Ville Hiltunen bt Francisco Alvaro Asimbaya 5-9, 9-1, 9-2, 9-0
[1] EGYPT bt [25/31] ECUADOR 3-0
Karim Abdel Gawad bt Felipe Bueno Almeida 9-2, 9-4, 9-1
Andrew Wagih Shoukry bt Daniel Cueva Mosquera 9-4, 9-7, 9-2
Amr Khaled Khalifa bt Francisco Alvaro Asimbaya 9-3, 9-2, 9-4
[17/24] FINLAND bt [16] WALES 2-1
Joonas Honkanen lost to Sam Fenwick 6-9, 7-9, 9-2, 4-9
Henrik Mustonen bt Hywel Robinson 9-3, 9-1, 9-5
Ville Hiltunen bt David Haley 10-8, 9-4, 10-9
Final positions: 1 Egypt, 2 Finland, 3 Wales, 4 Ecuador

Pool B:
[2] PAKISTAN bt [15] KUWAIT 3-0
Mohd Shoaib Hassan bt Ahmad Al-Randi 9-1, 9-1, 9-0 (32m)
Aamir Atlas Khan bt Mohammed Al Tawari 9-4, 9-1, 9-2 (24m)
Waqar Mehboob bt Shamlan A Ali 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 (10m)
[17/24] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [25/31] BERMUDA 2-1
Ondrej Uherka bt Noah DaBell 9-1, 9-2, 9-1 (23m)
Roman Svec lost to Robert Maycock 9-5, 4-9, 5-9, 2-9 (36m)
Daniel Mekbib bt Micah Franklin 9-1, 9-4, 9-2 (31m)
[2] PAKISTAN bt [25/31] BERMUDA 3-0
Farhan Zaman bt Noah DaBell 9-2, 9-0, 9-0 (16m)
Waqar Mehboob bt Robert Maycock 9-2, 9-4, 9-3 (17m)
Mohd Shoaib Hassan bt Micah Franklin 9-0, 9-0, 9-3 (18m)
[15] KUWAIT bt [17/24] CZECH REPUBLIC 2-1
Mohammed Al Tawari lost to Roman Svec 9-5, 4-9, 9-2, 2-9, 1-9 (60m)
Shamlan A Ali bt Daniel Mekbib 9-3, 9-1, 9-0 (39m)
Nasser Al-Rashid bt Zbynek Standera 9-5, 9-2, 9-4 (40m)
Final positions: 1 Pakistan, 2 Kuwait, 3 Czech Republic, 4 Bermuda

Pool C:
[3] ENGLAND bt [14] SWITZERLAND 2-1
Alex Ingham bt Jonas Daehler 9-0, 9-0, 9-2 (17m)
Joe Lee lost to Nicolas Mueller 3-9, 1-9, 8-10 (37m)
Adrian Waller bt Patrick Miescher 9-1, 9-0, 9-1 (24m)
[17/24] DENMARK bt [25/31] ITALY 3-0
Philip Tran bt Dimitri Diamadopoulos 9-6, 9-0, 9-3 (27m)
Casper Grauballe bt Alberto Matteazzi 9-4, 9-0, 9-7 (27m)
Lau Ulrik Kiehn bt Marco d'Adam 9-4, 9-0, 9-1 (21m)
[3] ENGLAND bt [25/31] ITALY 3-0
Adam Murrills bt Lorenzo Fortunato 9-4, 9-0, 9-2 (22m)
Joe Lee bt Alberto Matteazzi 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 (17m)
Adrian Waller bt Dimitri Diamadopoulos 9-1, 9-0, 9-1 (18m)
[14] SWITZERLAND bt [17/24] DENMARK 2-1
Lukas Burkhart bt Philip Tran 9-2, 9-0, 9-2 (34m)
Nicolas Mueller bt Casper Grauballe 9-2, 9-2, 9-3 (29m)
Patrick Miescher lost to Lau Ulrik Kiehn 9-10, 2-9, 1-9 (34m)
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Switzerland, 3 Denmark, 4 Italy

Pool D:
[4] FRANCE bt [13] SOUTH AFRICA 2-1
Lucas Serme bt Dean Russell 9-6, 9-0, 9-1 (38m)
Gregoire Marche bt Thoboki Mohohlo 9-4, 9-7, 9-6 (52m)
Lucas Vauzelle lost to Reinhold Hergeth 5-9, 9-5, 1-9, 0-9 (47m)
[17/24] BELGIUM bt [25/31] CAYMAN ISLANDS 2-1
Laurens Mostmans lost to Cameron Stafford 1-9, 9-1, 8-10, 2-9 (45m)
Sam van Brusselen bt Alain Osman Mudeen 9-0, 9-3, 9-3 (22m)
Tom de Mulder bt Jake Kelly 9-4, 9-1, 9-2 (41m)
[4] FRANCE bt [25/31] CAYMAN ISLANDS 3-0
Lucas Serme bt Ryan McConvey 9-0, 9-0, 9-1
Lucas Vauzelle bt Jake Kelly 9-1, 9-4, 9-4
Antoine Petrucci bt Cameron Stafford 9-1, 9-0, 9-3
[13] SOUTH AFRICA bt [17/24] BELGIUM 2-1
Wian Louwrens bt Robin Schreurs 9-2, 4-9, 9-1, 9-2 (58m)
Thoboki Mohohlo lost to Sam van Brusselen 5-9, 9-4, 9-2, 1-9, 7-9 (89m)
Reinhold Hergeth bt Tom de Mulder 9-7, 9-1, 9-3 (37m)
Final positions: 1 France, 2 South Africa, 3 Belgium, 4 Cayman Islands

Pool E:
[5] INDIA bt [17/24] NETHERLANDS 3-0
Ramit Tandon bt Michael Ernst 9-4, 9-1, 9-3
Vikram Malhotra bt Rick Penders 9-0, 9-0, 9-2
Aditya Jagtap bt Tim van der Pluijm 9-3, 9-0, 9-0
[12] USA bt [25/31] VENEZUELA 3-0
Matt Domenick bt Wilfredo Arcia 9-1, 9-0, 9-2
Todd Harrity bt Daniel Prato 9-0, 9-2, 9-0
Thomas Mattsson bt Alejandro Suarez 9-1, 9-0, 9-0
[5] INDIA bt [12] USA 2-1
Ravi Dixit bt Thomas Mattsson 9-4, 9-6, 9-3
Vikram Malhotra lost to Todd Harrity 1-9, 9-6, 8-10, 6-9 (68m)
Aditya Jagtap bt Alex Domenick 8-10, 9-7, 6-9, 9-5, 9-3 (78m)
[17/24] NETHERLANDS bt [25/31] VENEZUELA 3-0
Michael Ernst bt Wilfredo Arcia 9-0, 9-0, 9-1
Rick Penders bt Daniel Prato 9-5, 9-0, 9-4
Tim van der Pluijm bt Alejandro Suarez 9-7, 9-3, 9-1
Final positions: 1 India, 2 USA, 3 Netherlands, 4 Venezuela

Pool F:
[6] MALAYSIA bt [17/24] GUATEMALA 3-0
Kah Wah Cheong bt Bryan Bonilla 9-5, 9-6, 9-1 (46m)
Ivan Yuen bt Mauricio Sedano 9-0, 9-0, 9-6 (32m)
Mithran Selvaratnam bt Roberto Rodriguez 9-4, 9-2, 9-4 (23m)
[6] MALAYSIA bt [11] AUSTRALIA 2-1
Jo Wen Ng bt Aaron Fyfe 9-6, 9-3, 9-6 (41m)
Ivan Yuen bt Matthew Hopkin 9-5, 9-5, 9-4 (35m)
Mithran Selvaratnam lost to Jacob Alexander 9-3, 0-9, 6-9, 7-9 (53m)
Final positions: 1 Malaysia, 2 Australia, 3 Guatemala

Pool G:
[7] GERMANY bt [17/24] SPAIN 3-0
Norman Junge bt Hugo Varela Campo 9-2, 9-1, 9-5 (28m)
Florian Silbernagl bt Damian Arosa Rodriguez 9-1, 9-1, 9-4 (28m)
Rudi Rohrmuller bt Daniel Pascual Martinez 9-3, 9-0, 9-0 (20m)
[10] CANADA bt [25/31] IRELAND 3-0
Andrew Schnell bt Alan Tighe 9-0, 9-0, 9-1 (16m)
Kelly Shannon bt Colm Dolan 9-2, 9-1, 9-5 (26m)
Nicholas Sachvie bt Theodore Anderson 9-0, 9-2, 9-3 (25m)
[7] GERMANY bt [10] CANADA 2-1
Rudi Rohrmuller bt Andrew Schnell 9-5, 9-2, 2-9, 9-4 (61m)
Florian Silbernagl lost to Kelly Shannon 4-9, 3-9, 3-9 (35m)
Raphael Kandra bt Nicholas Sachvie 6-9, 10-9, 9-0, 9-7 (61m)
[17/24] SPAIN bt [25/31] IRELAND 3-0
Daniel Pascual Martinez bt Kevin Davey 9-1, 9-1, 6-9, 9-7 (55m)
Damian Arosa Rodriguez bt Colm Dolan 2-9, 9-3, 9-4, 9-0 (45m)
Fausto Gomez bt Theodore Anderson 9-0, 9-0, 9-5 (22m)
Final positions: 1 Germany, 2 Canada, 3 Spain, 4 Ireland

Pool H:
[8] HONG KONG bt [17/24] SWEDEN 3-0
Fung Ji Yang bt Truls Olterman 9-6, 9-0, 9-0 (27m)
Leo Au bt Johan Detter 9-5, 9-7, 9-2 (44m)
Nelson Chan bt Alex Christensson 7-9, 9-7, 9-7, 9-1 (54m)
[9] NEW ZEALAND bt [25/31] CHINA 3-0
Evan Williams bt Xiaomin Meng 9-2, 9-3, 9-1 (15m)
Alex Grayson bt Wang Jun Jie 9-2, 9-0, 9-0 (15m)
Cameron Jamieson bt Shen Jia Qi 9-0, 9-1, 9-0 (12m)
[9] NEW ZEALAND bt [8] HONG KONG 2-1
Cameron Jamieson bt Fung Ji Yang 5-9, 9-1, 4-9, 9-6, 2-5 ret. (73m)
Evan Williams lost to Leo Au 3-9, 9-10, 5-9 (50m)
Alex Grayson bt Nelson Chan 9-3, 9-3, 9-4 (39m)
[17/24] SWEDEN bt [25/31] CHINA 3-0
Truls Olterman bt Shen Jia Qi 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 (12m)
Johan Detter bt Xiaomin Meng 9-0, 9-0, 9-5 (26m)
Alex Christensson bt Wang Jun Jie 9-5, 9-3, 9-0 (19m)
Final positions: 1 New Zealand, 2 Hong Kong, 3 Sweden, 4 China