Top Four Seeds Sail Into World Semi-Finals In Denmark

The top four seeds have taken their anticipated places in the semi-finals of the 22nd Men's World Team Championship in Denmark after straightforward quarter-final wins in the biennial World Squash Federation event at Squash Center Denmark in the city of Odense.

Two of the game's most admired players took to the court in the opening match between favourites Egypt and seventh seeds Canada. It was the first meeting between 30-year-old Cairo-based Amr Shabana, the world No3, and Toronto's 35-year-old retired former world number one Jonathon Power for almost four years.

And the packed gallery were not disappointed when veteran Power, displaying the racket magic which brought him 37 Tour titles during his illustrious career, fought back to draw level after the second game.

But Shabana's superior fitness ultimately shone through as the three-time world champion went on to claim an 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 victory. Successes by world No4 Ramy Ashour and world No13 Wael El Hindi gave Egypt the 3/0 win which takes the team through to a semi-final against eight times champions Australia, the fourth seeds.

Twice world individual champion David Palmer beat Farhan Mehboob 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 to lead Australia to a 3/0 win over sixth seeds Pakistan - but the six-time champions will no doubt be pleased to be guaranteed a top eight finish after ending their 2007 campaign in ninth place.

Defending champions England again had to contend without squad number one Nick Matthew, the world No5 who was sidelined earlier in the week by a serious ankle injury. But fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop led the second-seeded team to victory over a resurgent Italy, beating former Englishman Marcus Berrett 11-3, 12-10, 11-6 in 26 minutes.

Team-mates Peter Barker and Adrian Grant also overcame Italian opposition without dropping games - but Italy will be rejoicing at their success in reaching the last eight for the first time in six attempts since 1989.

England will now face formidable European rivals France, the cross-channel opponents who they have faced in nine European Team Championships' finals this decade. Led by world number two Gregory Gaultier, third seeds France despatched outsiders South Africa, the 11th seeds, 3/0.

But Gaultier was stretched to four games by South African stalwart Rodney Durbach before beating the 37-year-old former touring pro 11-5, 12-14, 11-4, 11-5 in 45 minutes.

However, South Africa - who now face Italy - are sure to record their best finish since 2001.

Quarter-finals:
[1] EGYPT bt [7] CANADA 3/0
Amr Shabana bt Jonathon Power 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 (52m)
Ramy Ashour bt Shahier Razik 11-9, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9 (38m)
Wael El Hindi bt David Phillips 7-11, 11-6, 14-12 (39m)

[4] AUSTRALIA bt [6] PAKISTAN 3/0
David Palmer bt Farhan Mehboob 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 (35m)
Stewart Boswell bt Yasir Butt 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 (45m)
Cameron Pilley bt Mansoor Zaman 11-6, 11-7 (17m)

[3] FRANCE bt [11] SOUTH AFRICA 3/0
Gregory Gaultier bt Rodney Durbach 11-5, 12-14, 11-4, 11-5 (45m)
Thierry Lincou bt Jesse Engelbrecht 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (29m)
Julien Balbo bt Clinton Leeuw 7-11, 11-0, 11-5 (34m)

[2] ENGLAND bt [8] ITALY 3/0
James Willstrop bt Marcus Berrett 11-3, 12-10, 11-6 (26m)
Peter Barker bt Amr Swelim 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
Adrian Grant bt Jose Facchini 11-5, 11-9 (24m)

9th - 16th place play-offs:
[15] GERMANY bt [17/24] SCOTLAND 3/0
Simon Rosner bt Alan Clyne 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5 (57m)
Jens Schoor bt Stuart Crawford 7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 14-12, 11-7 (51m)
Stefan Leifels bt Chris Small 13-11, 13-11 (23m)

[5] MALAYSIA bt [14] IRELAND 3/0
Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt Liam Kenny 11-9, 11-7, 11-2 (47m)
Ong Beng Hee bt Arthur Gaskin 11-4, 10-12, 11-1, 7-11, 11-6 (59m)
Ivan Yuen bt Derek Ryan 11-2, 11-7 (15m)

[12] USA bt [13] NETHERLANDS 2/1
Julian Illingworth lost to Laurens Jan Anjema 1-11, 5-11, 4-11 (28m)
Gilly Lane bt Piedro Schweertman 11-8, 12-10, 11-4 (34m)
Christopher Gordon bt Sebastian Weenink 15-13, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8 (66m)

[10] NEW ZEALAND bt [17/24] KUWAIT 2/1
Kashif Shuja lost to Abdullah Almezayen 3-11, 3-11, 8-11 (24m)
Campbell Grayson bt Salem Fayez Mohammed 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 (28m)
Martin Knight bt Bader Al Hussaini 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (69m)

17th - 20th place play-offs:
[16] HONG KONG bt [17/24] FINLAND 2/1
Dick Lau lost to Olli Tuominen 10-12, 1-11, 1-11 (30m)
Max Lee bt Henrik Mustonen 14-12, 13-11, 11-4 (40m)
Anson Kwong bt Matias Tuomi 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 (32m)

[9] INDIA bt [17/24] DENMARK 2/1
Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Rasmus Nielsen 4-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 (52m)
Harinder Pal Sandhu lost to Kristian Frost Olesen 10-12, 9-11, 2-11 (45m)
Gaurav Nandrajog bt Kim Povlsen 12-10, 11-3, 11-6 (30m)

21st - 24th place play-offs:
[17/24] WALES bt [17/24] SPAIN 3/0
Rob Sutherland bt David Vidal 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5 (48m)
Peter Creed bt Alejandro Garbi Caro 6-11, 11-5, 12-14, 11-9, 13-11 (60m)
Nic Birt bt Eduardo Gonzales De Chaves 4-11, 11-7, 11-4 (35m)

[17/24] SWEDEN bt [17/24] AUSTRIA 3/0
Rasmus Hult bt Aqeel Rehman 11-6, 11-9, 11-9 (27m)
Carl-Johan Lofvenborg bt Jakob Dirnberger 11-6, 11-3, 11-7 (28m)
Joakim Larsson bt Christian Coufal 11-9, 11-7 (20m)

25th - 28th place play-offs:
[25/28] KENYA bt [25/28] SERBIA 2/1
Hardeep Reel bt Dennis Drenjovski 11-6, 11-0, 11-8 (27m)
Hartaj Bains bt Daniel Zilic 11-8, 12-10, 13-11 (36m)
Joseph Ndungu Karigithe lost to Ivan Djordjevic 11-9, 5-11, 7-11, 7-11 (34m)

[25/28] JAPAN bt [25/28] VENEZUELA 3/0
Yuta Fukui bt Francisco Valecillo 10-12, 11-4, 11-2, 11-2 (23m)
Tsukue Shinnosuke bt Juan Pablo Rothie 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (19m)
Shimizu Takanori bt Gabriel Teran 11-2, 11-2, 11-4 (15m)