France Celebrate Quarter-Final First In Hong Kong

9 Aug 2007

France achieved a significant breakthrough in today's final qualifying action in the Hoe Hin White Flower Ointment Women's World Junior Team Championship by beating India 2/1 to ensure a first-time place in the quarter-final play-offs of the biennial World Squash Federation event in Hong Kong.

Individual championship runner-up Camille Serme put the sixth seeds ahead in the Pool C tie after beating the 15-year-old Indian number one Dipika Pallikal 9-2, 9-2, 9-7, and Coline Aumard made sure of a French victory after battling to a dramatic 3-9, 9-2, 9-4, 4-9, 9-6 win over Surbhi Misra. However, there was consolation for 11th seeds India when third string Anwesha Reddy beat Faustine Gilles 10-8, 9-0, 9-0.

Later in the day, third seeds New Zealand demonstrated their supremacy in the pool by beating France 3/0 to finish as Pool C champions.

As expected, tenth seeds Canada claimed the only surprise slot in the quarter-finals after beating Japan 3/0 in their final tie to finish as runners-up in Pool B. Second seeds England took pole position in the Pool after beating Germany 2/1.

There were celebrations in the home camp when hosts Hong Kong beat fifth seeds Malaysia 3/0 in their final tie in Pool D. The defending champions now take on Canada for a place in the semi-finals.

Favourites Egypt eased to a 3/0 victory over USA to claim the Pool A title - and a clash with France in the quarter-finals. However, eighth seeds USA went on to beat Australia 3/0 to secure the other quarter-final slot from Pool A.

Final qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] EGYPT bt [8] USA 3-0
Raneem El Weleily bt Olivia Blatchford 9-3, 9-2, 9-2
Nour Bahgat bt Sarah Toomey 9-3, 9-2, 9-0
Heba El Torky bt Emily Park 9-2, 5-9, 9-2, 9-1

[9] AUSTRALIA bt [16] SOUTH KOREA 2-1
Melody Francis lost to Sun-Mi Song 1-9, 7-9, 0-9
Kimberley Bessell bt Kwon Sung-Eun 9-2, 9-1, 9-4
Maggy Marshall bt Lee Ji Hyun 9-1, 9-1, 9-1

[8] USA bt [9] AUSTRALIA 3-0
Logan Greer bt Maggy Marshall 1-9, 9-4, 9-4, 10-9
Emily Park bt Laura Stock 9-5, 9-2, 9-6
Olivia Blatchford bt Kimberley Bessell 10-8, 9-1, 9-5

[16] SOUTH KOREA bt [17] SINGAPORE 3-0
Sun-Mi Song bt Nicole Chua 9-3, 9-5, 9-1
Kwon Sung-Eun bt Kimberly Chew Lin 9-3, 9-3, 9-1
Lee Ji Hyun bt Mao Shi Hui 6-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-6
Final positions: 1 Egypt (won 4/lost 0), 2 USA (3/1), 3 Australia (2/2), 4 South Korea (1/3), 5 Singapore (0/4)

Pool B:
[2] ENGLAND bt [7] GERMANY 2-1
Victoria Lust bt Sina Wall 9-4, 9-2, 9-7
Kimberley Hay bt Steffi Muller 9-2, 9-1, 9-0
Sarah-Jane Perry lost to Astrid Kern 5-9, 9-5, 8-10, 9-2, 6-9

[10] CANADA bt [15] JAPAN 3-0
Laura Gemmell bt Misaki Kobayashi 9-4, 9-5, 9-6
Jackie Moss bt Mayu Yamazaki 9-2, 9-0, 9-1
Sarah Parsons bt Ikuko Tao 9-3, 9-0, 9-4
Final positions: 1 England (won 4/lost 0), 2 Canada (3/1), 3 Germany (2/2), 4 Japan (1/3), 5 Zimbabwe (0/4)

Pool C:
[6] FRANCE bt [11] INDIA 2-1
Camille Serme bt Dipika Pallikal 9-2, 9-2, 9-7
Coline Aumard bt Surbhi Misra 3-9, 9-2, 9-4, 4-9, 9-6
Faustine Gilles lost to Anwesha Reddy 8-10, 0-9, 0-9

[14] SWITZERLAND bt [19] CHINA 3-0
Jasmin Ballman bt Xiu Chen 9-0, 9-0, 9-3
Caroline Bachem bt Qian Jiayi 9-0, 9-0, 9-1
Agapi Kazamia bt Ding Yating 9-1, 9-1, 9-1

[3] NEW ZEALAND bt [6] FRANCE 3-0
Joelle King bt Camille Serme 9-3, 9-6, 9-3
Amanda Cranston bt Gabrielle de Lavison 9-2, 9-1, 9-0
Kerry Wickett bt Faustine Gilles 9-5, 9-5, 9-6

[11] INDIA bt [14] SWITZERLAND 3-0
Dipika Pallikal bt Jasmin Ballman 9-3, 9-4, 9-5
Surbhi Misra bt Caroline Bachem 5-9, 9-1, 9-3, 9-3
Anwesha Reddy bt Agapi Kazamia 10-8, 9-6, 9-5
Final positions: 1 New Zealand (won 4/lost 0), 2 France (3/1), 3 India (2/2), 4 Switzerland (1/3), 5 China (0/4)

Pool D:
[4] HONG KONG bt [5] MALAYSIA 3-0
Annie Au bt Low Wee Wern 2-9, 9-3, 9-1, 9-4
Liu Tsz Ling bt Nessrine Ariffin 9-5, 9-7, 1-9, 2-9, 9-3
Shin Nga Leung bt Low Wee Nee 9-3, 9-0, 6-9, 9-4

[13] SOUTH AFRICA bt [12] NETHERLANDS 2-1
Milnay Louw bt Milou van der Heijden 9-4, 9-5, 8-10, 9-3
Lizane Vlok lost to Ilona Lagerweij 5-9, 6-9, 4-9
Cheyna Tucker bt Melissa Meulenbelt 0-9, 9-7, 9-7, 9-6
Final positions: 1 Hong Kong (won 3/lost 0), 2 Malaysia (2/1), 3 South Africa (1/2), 4 Netherlands (0/3)