Hong Kong Upset England In Major World Teams Shock

Hong Kong China, seeded 5/6, overcame third seeds England to top Pool C in a major shock on the final day of the qualifying stage of the WSF Women's World Team Championship in Cairo.

On the indoor glass court at the Madinaty Sporting Club, the defending Asian Team champions made a strong start as world No.37 Chan Sin Yuk came from 2/1 down to beat England's world No.22 Jasmine Hutton.

Underdogs Hong Kong had a chance to close off the tie after the second match when their No.1 Tomato Ho went 2/1 ahead against Sarah-Jane Perry, only for the England No.1 to roar back with a bagel and then a comprehensive 11-4 to level the tie.

England appeared to be out of the woods when world No.31 Lucy Turmel opened a two-game lead over Tsz-Wing Tong. The HK No.4, however, mounted a brilliant comeback of her own to stun the seven-time champions, with the world No.44 pounding the glass in delight after taking the final three games 11-8, 11-5, 11-9.

Afterwards, Hong Kong coach Peter Genever said: "I'm delighted. They played really well but that was a really good tie, and a tough one, with them all going to five games. I'm really pleased.

"We all know [Tong] is a fighter, she's known for that and to be 2/0 down and things not looking that good, but once she got that third game we thought 'she's renowned for sticking in there and being tough to beat' and thankfully she did that again today."

In a rematch of last month's Asian Team Championship final, Hong Kong will face Malaysia in the quarter-finals after the 5/6 seeds fell to a 2/1 defeat to No.4 seeds France.

France, whose Camille Serme and Melissa Alves impressed in taking the first two matches of the Malaysia tie, will take on England.

Prior to France's tie on the outdoor glass court, defending champions and top seeds Egypt continued their comfortable progress through the competition and they romped to victory against 7/8 seeds Canada.

Canada, who opted to rest their No.1, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Hollie Naughton, were unable to lay a glove on Egypt in a brutally one-sided tie, with Nour El Sherbini, Nouran Gohar and Nour El Tayeb needing a total of just 57 minutes to deliver the win.

"All the girls are in top form, despite them all coming from the Hong Kong Open, where they all had very tough matches," Egypt coach Engy Kheirallah said. "Their performances today were spot on."

Canada will go into a North American derby with neighbours USA after the No.2 seeds easily dismantled 7/8 seeds Scotland, who were without their No.1 Lisa Aitken after the world No.28 was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury suffered in the match with Australia's Donna Lobban.

Despite the defeat, Scotland go through to the quarter-finals as runners up in Pool B. They will face Egypt in the first quarter-final tie on the outdoor glass court.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Switzerland, Australia, South Africa and Finland in their final pool ties.