Team Quarters

Day Four of the team event, and quarter-finals day witnessed three comfortable victories and one massive match and massive upset – top seeds Egypt and Pakistan moved smoothly into their 13th and 10th successive semi-finals, four-time winners England eased past India for a minor upset, but USA reached the semis for the first time in 17 attempts with a nailbiting win over third seeds France.

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Quarter-Finals

 [1] Egypt 2-0 [9] New Zealand
Youssef Ibrahim 3-0 Finn Trimble         11/5, 11/1, 11/1 (18m)
  Saadeldin Abouaish 3-0 Scott Galloway 11/8, 11/3, 11/5 (24m)

[3] France 1-2 [7] USA
Victor Crouin 3-2 Spencer Lovejoy      11/8, 9/11, 11/6, 11/13, 11/3 (69m)
Benjamin Aubert 2-3 Andrew Douglas   11/3, 11/8 , 9/11, 8/11, 3/11 (55m)
Sébastien Bonmalais 1-3 Samuel Scherl   5/11, 6/11, 15/13, 6/11 (70m)

[4] India 0-2 [5] England
     Abhay Singh v Kyle Finch                   6/11, 3/11, 9/11 (35m)
Velava Senthilkumar 0-3 Charlie Lee    8/11, 5/11, 8/11 (43m)

[2] Pakistan 3-0 [10] Australia
Ahsan Ayaz 3-0 Alex Eustace            11/5, 11/8, 11/5 (31m)
Israr Ahmed 3-0 Alex Eustace               11/5, 11/6, 11/5 (33m)
  Abbas Shoukat 2-0 William Curtis               11/6, 11/3 (20m)

Playoff Matches:  
9-12 Semis: Jordan 2-1 South Africa, Canada 0-2 Hong Kong
17-21 R/R: Guatemala 2-1 Poland, Argentina 3-0 Zimbabwe, Guatemala 2-1 Zimbabwe, Germany 2-1 Argentina

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Egypt first through

Top seeds and defending champions Egypt were first through to the semi-finals with a comprehensive win over New Zealand.

Individual medalist Youssef Ibrahim cruised into a 10-1 lead in the first game against Finn Trimble before the New Zealander pulled a few points back to finish 11/5. There wer no comebacks in the next two games though as Ibrahim won both 11/1.

Individual runner-up Saadeldin Abouaish looked a little lethargic as he went 1-5 down to Scott Galloway, but he picked up his pace, got the better of a well contested forst game 11/8 and took the next two with some comfort.

So Egypt reach their 13th successive semi-final, where they await the winner between England and India [it’s England, at 14.30 tomorrow].

USA foil France

The Unites States beat third seeds France in a sensational match featuring three epic and gruelling encounters.

Victor Crouin put France in the lead, starting strongly to take a 2-1 lead, then seeing five match balls disappear from 10-6 in the fourth as Spencer Lovejoy staged a determined recovery to level the match 15/13. The effort took its toll though and the Frenchman was in control in the fifth.

Another five-setter followed, which saw Andrew Douglas recover from two games down to beat individual quarter-finalist Benjamin Aubert. The Frenchman looked comfortable in the first two games, and led the third 3-0 and the fourth 3-0 and 6-3 but couldn’t stop another determined American comeback. Douglas was dominant in the decider, Aubert a spent force.

The USA looked to be cruising to victory as Sam Scherl took a two game lead in the decider, but this time it was a Frenchman’s turn to stage a recovery as he took a dramatic third in which he held three game balls at 10-7 and then saved three match balls before finally taking it 15/13. The American was on top again in the fourth, clinching the match to his and his team-mates’ delight after 70 minutes of thrilling action.

The win guarantees the USA its highest-ever finish in this, their 17th appearance in the championship.

England oust India,
Pakistan cruise through

The third quarter-final was a much more sedate affair, as England, the fifth-seeded four-time winners, caused a minor upset by beating fourth seeds India,

Kyle Finch and Charlie Lee both won in relatively untroubled straight games.

In the final match on the glass court second seeds Pakistan moved into their tenth successive semi-final with and untroubled win over Australia, taking all three matches comfortably.

Pakistan now meet the USA at 18.00 tomorrow.

Plenty more Photos in the Gallery