Perry Leads Ireland To Maximum Points Win Over USA

While top seeds England and Egypt maintained their unbeaten run in today's second qualifying round of the Women's World Team Championship at the National Stadium in Cairo, fifth seeds Ireland scored a morale-boosting 3/0 win over rivals USA to head the points table in Pool C.

After Laura Mylotte and Aisling Blake, Ireland's third and second strings, respectively, defeated their US opponents in convincing style, nine times Irish champion Madeline Perry, ranked 11 in the world, took on US champion Natalie Grainger, the world No3 whom she had never beaten.

Cheered on by her jubilant team-mates, the determined 31-year-old from Belfast battled for 34 minutes to achieve a maiden 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 win over Grainger - a victory which puts Ireland ahead of Pool rivals New Zealand, the third seeds.

"I find there's much less pressure when you're playing matches where rankings points aren't at stake - and tonight I was determined to keep my focus right from the outset," said Perry after her historic win.

"It's the first time I've beaten Natalie - and she's playing well at the moment - so I'm really pleased.

"This event has had a jinx on me - in three previous world team championships I've been taken ill on the eve of the event," explained Perry. "So when I arrived here, I kept my fingers crossed that I would be OK this time - and things are certainly going well for me so far!"

Ireland face New Zealand tomorrow to decide which team will finish as Pool C champions - and go forward to the quarter-finals avoiding one of the top two seeds.

Fifth seeds Netherlands were given a scare in their penultimate tie against South Africa, the 13th seeds, in Pool D when South African-born Dutch star Annelize Naude went down 11-13, 10-12, 11-9, 5-11 to South African part-timer Siyole Lusaseni. It was an impressive performance by the unranked Lusaseni, playing in her first world championship since 2002.

With the tie poised at one-all, Dutch number one Vanessa Atkinson restored order by beating her South African counterpart Farrah Sterne 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 to give Netherlands a 2/1 win.

Netherlands now face fourth seeds Malaysia, led by world number one Nicol David, to decide the champions of Pool D.

Defending champions England, the event favourites, were in action twice - and cruised to 3/0 victories in Pool A over both Spain and Austria.

Hosts Egypt, the second seeds, continued their winning ways by beating Switzerland 3/0. But Pool B rivals Australia also claimed their third qualifying win after beating Canada 2/1 - and share leadership of the group with Egypt. But a meeting between the two teams tomorrow will decide which team progresses through to Thursday's quarter-finals as the Pool champions.

2nd qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [16] SPAIN 3-0
Tania Bailey bt Alicia Alvarez Riaza 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (15m)
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro bt Xisela Aranda Nunez 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 (17m)
Alison Waters bt Elisabet Sado Garriga 11-3, 11-1, 11-4 (13m)

[9] HONG KONG bt [17] AUSTRIA 3-0
Liu Tsz Ling bt Judith Gradnitzer 11-6, 11-1, 11-4 (19m)
Shin Nga Leung bt Pamela Pancis 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (22m)
Annie Au bt Birgit Coufal 11-2, 11-7, 11-2 (16m)

[1] ENGLAND bt [17] AUSTRIA 3-0
Tania Bailey bt Judith Gradnitzer 11-6, 11-1, 11-2 (21m)
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro bt Sandra Polak 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 (16m)
Jenny Duncalf bt Birgit Coufal 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 (20m)

[8] FRANCE bt [16] SPAIN 3-0
Maud Duplomb bt Stela Carbonell 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 (18m)
Celia Allamargot bt Xisela Aranda Nunez 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5 (32m)
Camille Serme bt Elisabet Sado Garriga 11-3, 12-10, 11-9 (22m)

Pool B:
[7] AUSTRALIA bt [15] JAPAN 3-0
Amelia Pittock bt Yuki Omiya 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (18m)
Lisa Camilleri bt Kozue Onizawa 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (27m)
Donna Urquhart bt Chinatsu Matsui 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 11-5 (30m)

[2] EGYPT bt [18] SWITZERLAND 3-0
Heba El Torky bt Andrea Lanfranconi 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (20m)
Raneem El Weleily bt Sara Guebey 11-8, 11-1, 11-0 (16m)
Omneya Abdel Kawy bt Gaby Schmohl 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (19m)

[7] AUSTRALIA bt [10] CANADA 2-1
Lisa Camilleri bt Carolyn Russell 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 (50m)
Donna Urquhart lost to Runa Reta 8-11, 11-13, 9-11 (32m)
Kasey Brown bt Alana Miller 11-5, 11-4, 11-1 (24m)

[15] JAPAN bt [18] SWITZERLAND 3-0
Kozue Onizawa bt Jasmin Ballman 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (22m)
Misaki Kobayashi bt Sara Guebey 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9 (32m)
Chinatsu Matsui bt Gaby Schmohl 4-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3 (37m)

Pool C:
[6] IRELAND bt [14] ITALY 3-0
Laura Mylotte bt Veronica Favero Camp 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (32m)
Aisling Blake bt Sonia Pasteris 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 (22m)
Madeline Perry bt Manuela Manetta 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 (28m)

[3] NEW ZEALAND bt [19] CHINA 3-0
Joelle King bt Ou Wei 11-0, 11-2, 11-1 (8m)
Louise Crome bt Jiang Li 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (20m)
Jaclyn Hawkes bt Wu Zhenzhen 11-4, 11-6, 11-2 (15m)

[6] IRELAND bt [11] USA 3-0
Laura Mylotte bt Olivia Blatchford 3-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-7 (29m)
Aisling Blake bt Claire Rein-Weston 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (28m)
Madeline Perry bt Natalie Grainger 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 (34m)

Pool D:
[4] MALAYSIA bt [12] GERMANY 3-0
Low Wee Wern bt Sina Wall 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (27m)
Delia Arnold bt Pamela Hathway 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (25m)
Nicol David bt Kathrin Rohrmueller 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (24m)

[5] NETHERLANDS bt [13] SOUTH AFRICA 2-1
Orla Noom bt Milnay Louw 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4 (26m)
Annelize Naude lost to Siyole Lusaseni 11-13, 10-12, 11-9, 5-11 (37m)
Vanessa Atkinson bt Farrah Sterne 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (26m)