Hosts Tested By Canada In World Championship Opener

Second-seeded hosts Egypt were give a scare by Canada before beating the tenth seeds 2/1 in today's opening ties in the Women's World Team Championship at the National Stadium in Cairo.

Alana Miller, the Canadian number one ranked 36 in the world, gave the outsiders hope when she beat Egypt's top string Omneya Abdel Kawy, who is ranked 28 places higher. The 23-year-old from Cairo, remarkably appearing in the biennial championships for the sixth successive time since 1998, took the opening game - but ultimately went down 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, 10-12 in 37 minutes to the reigning Canadian national champion.

But Kawy's team-mates Engy Kheirallah and Raneem El Weleily made up for the unexpected start by beating Canadians Carolyn Russell and Runa Reta to give the hosts their 2/1 win.

In their second tie of the day in Pool B, Egypt beat 15th seeds Japan 3/0 to maintain their unbeaten run.

Defending champions England were also stretched in their opening match when squad number one Jenny Duncalf took on the new Hong Kong top string Annie Au. World No5 Duncalf twice had to come from behind before beating Au, ranked 16 places lower, 5-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6. England went on to win their Pool A tie 3/0 and now look forward meeting both Spain and Austria on Monday.

Qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [9] HONG KONG 3-0
Jenny Duncalf bt Annie Au 5-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (39m)
Alison Waters bt Joey Chan 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (19m)
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro bt Shin Nga Leung 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (14m)

[8] FRANCE bt [17] AUSTRIA 3-0
Camille Serme bt Birgit Coufal 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (18m)
Celia Allamargot bt Pamela Pancis 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10 (18m)
Maud Duplomb bt Sandra Polak 11-3, 11-0, 11-2 (15m)

Pool B:
[7] AUSTRALIA bt [18] SWITZERLAND 3-0
Kasey Brown bt Gaby Schmohl 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (30m)
Lisa Camilleri bt Sara Guebey 11-3, 11-2, 11-4 (22m)
Amelia Pittock bt Jasmin Ballman 11-3, 11-9, 11-4 (22m)

[2] EGYPT bt [10] CANADA 2-1
Omneya Abdel Kawy lost to Alana Miller 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, 10-12 (37m)
Engy Kheirallah bt Runa Reta 11-6, 7-11, 11-2, 11-9 (62m)
Raneem El Weleily bt Carolyn Russell 11-1, 11-2, 11-6 (25m)

[10] CANADA bt [18] SWITZERLAND 3-0
Alana Miller bt Gaby Schmohl 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (22m)
Tara Mullins bt Sara Guebey 13-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6 (40m)
Carolyn Russell bt Andrea Lanfranconi 11-6, 11-0, 11-5 (15m)

[2] EGYPT bt [15] JAPAN 3-0
Engy Kheirallah bt Chinatsu Matsui 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-7 (42m)
Raneem El Weleily bt Misaki Kobayashi 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (24m)
Heba El Torky bt Kozue Onizawa 11-5, 11-7, 11-9 (23m)

Pool C:
[6] IRELAND bt [19] CHINA 3-0
Madeline Perry bt Wu Zhenzhen 11-4, 11-1, 11-0 (12m)
Aisling Blake bt Jiang Li 11-6, 11-1, 11-4 (13m)
Tanya Owens bt Xiu Chen 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 (16m)

[3] NEW ZEALAND bt [11] USA 2-1
Shelley Kitchen lost to Natalie Grainger 7-11, 6-11, 13-15 (29m)
Jaclyn Hawkes bt Olivia Blatchford 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (20m)
Louise Crome bt Hope Prockop 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 (21m)

[11] USA bt [19] CHINA 3-0
Natalie Grainger bt Jiang Li 11-3, 11-6, 11-5 (14m)
Claire Rein-Weston bt Xiu Chen 11-4, 11-3, 11-9 (16m)
Olivia Blatchford bt Ou Wei 11-4, 11-4, 11-1 (14m)

[3] NEW ZEALAND bt [14] ITALY 3-0
Shelley Kitchen bt Manuela Manetta 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 (22m)
Jaclyn Hawkes bt Sonia Pasteris 13-11, 11-4, 11-4 (20m)
Louise Crome bt Veronica Favero Camp 11-4, 11-2, 11-2 (18m)

Pool D:
[5] NETHERLANDS bt [12] GERMANY 3-0
Vanessa Atkinson bt Kathrin Rohrmueller 13-11, 11-8, 11-3 (19m)
Annelize Naude bt Pamela Hathway 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 (19m)
Dagmar Vermeulen bt Sina Wall 12-14, 11-2, 11-4, 11-9 (35m)

[4] MALAYSIA bt [13] SOUTH AFRICA 3-0
Nicol David bt Farrah Sterne 11-5, 11-6, 11-0 (20m)
Sharon Wee bt Diana Argyle 11-8, 13-11, 11-13, 8-11, 11-9 (50m)
Delia Arnold bt Siyole Lusaseni 11-8, 14-12, 11-4 (40m)