Men's World Team Championship L16 Knockout Line-Up Now Set

The last 16 teams standing in the WSF Men's World Team Championship have been confirmed after the conclusion of the group stage in Tauranga, New Zealand.

With a number of highly seeded teams taking on lower seeded opponents, ties today were largely one-sided affairs, with all eight ending 3/0.

On the spectacular all-glass court in the Mercury Baypark Arena, France and Netherlands played out an entertaining European derby, with the French trio of Auguste Dussourd, Victor Crouin and Gregoire Marche recording 3/1, 3/0, and 3/0 wins, respectively, to set up a last 16 meeting with Nigeria, who progressed as runners up in Group D after a win over Japan and a defeat to Switzerland earlier in the competition.

After the match, Marche reflected on the mood of the third-seeded French team: "We're feeling good and confident and the atmosphere between us is great; let's hope for the best!"

Elsewhere, at the Devoy Squash and Fitness Centre, top seeds and defending champions Egypt safely progressed as Group A winners thanks to a comfortable 3/0 win against Ireland, with 22-year-old former world No.1 Mostafa Asal making his event debut for Egypt.

Asal and his teammates will face Pool B runners up South Africa in the first knockout round, with the 13/16 seeds qualifying thanks to their win against Philippines on day one.

Hosts New Zealand, meanwhile, will go up against No.5 seeds USA in a bid to make the quarter-finals

The Kiwis, who qualified as Group F runners up after a win against Republic of Korea and a defeat to Wales, will take on the USA in front of what is sure to be a noisy Mercury Baypark Arena, where their No.1 Paul Coll won the New Zealand Open just three days ago.