Kuwait and Scotland earned unexpected places in the last sixteen play-offs in the 22nd Men's World Team Squash Championship after wins over Hong Kong and Venezuela, respectively, in the final qualifying round of the World Squash Federation event at Squash Center Denmark in the city of Odense in Denmark.

In a further remarkable upset, 11th seeds South Africa beat sixth seeds and six-time champions Pakistan to finish as winners of Pool F.

But it was outsiders Kuwait's day as the 17/24 seeds toppled Hong Kong 2/1 in Pool A - banishing the 15th seeds to the play-offs for the 17-24th place play-offs.  Bader Al Hussaini put Kuwait in the driving seat with an 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 win over Hong Kong's rising star Leo Au, the 19-year-old Asian Junior champion.

Kuwaiti number one Abdullah Almezayen clinched his country's success by beating Dick Lau 11-6, 14-12, 11-6.  Kuwait will now face defending champions England for a place in their first quarter-final.

Scotland, also 17/24 seeds, made their breakthrough in Pool H by beating India, the No9 seeds, on the first day.  The former semi-finalists, who finished in 18th place last time, had no trouble beating outsiders Venezuela 3/0, with Chris Small, Alan Clyne and Stuart Crawford wrapping up victory in less than an hour to take second place in the Pool behind Italy.  Scotland will now line up against Canada.

It was a powerful performance from South Africa which saw the team which finished in 11th place last time battle from behind to beat a strong Pakistan team led by world No14 Aamir Atlas Khan.  Clinton Leeuw began the rout, recovering from 2/1 down to beat Pakistani Yasir Butt, ranked more than 40 places higher in the world, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8.

But it was Stephen Coppinger who claimed the biggest scalp, the world No57 battling to a 10-12, 2-11, 11-9, 11-1, 12-10 win in 55 minutes over Atlas Khan.  Farhan Mehboob restored some pride in the Pakistani squad with a straight games win over the now retired South African stalwart Rodney Durbach.

There were notable individual performances on the day - none more so than Dutchman Lauren Jan Anjema's first ever win over distinguished Australian David Palmer, a two-time world individual champion.  The win boosted the confidence of the squad - but Netherlands went on to lose 2/1 to fourth seeds Australia, but finished in second place in Pool D. 

Anjema's 75-minute 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10 victory over Palmer marked the Australian number one's first ever defeat for his country since making his debut in 2001.

Defending champions England suffered a major setback when squad number one Nick Matthew twisted his ankle midway through his second game against top-ranked German Simon Rosner.  The world No5 from Sheffield was rushed to hospital for an X-ray, which showed that nothing was broken. 

Second seeds England carried on to beat Germany 2/1 - but further participation in the event by the squad's top string looks bleak.

Last sixteen round:

[1] EGYPT v [15] GERMANY

[7] CANADA v [17/24] SCOTLAND

[4] AUSTRALIA v [14] IRELAND

[5] MALAYSIA v [6] PAKISTAN

[11] SOUTH AFRICA v [12] USA

[3] FRANCE v [13] NETHERLANDS

[8] ITALY v [10] NEW ZEALAND

[2] ENGLAND v [17/24] KUWAIT

    17th - 24th place play-offs:

[16] HONG KONG v [17/24] SPAIN

[17/24] WALES v [17/24] FINLAND

[17/24] DENMARK v [17/24] SWEDEN

[17/24] AUSTRIA v [9] INDIA

    25th - 28th place play-offs:

[25/28] SERBIA v [25/28] VENEZUELA

[25/28] JAPAN v [25/28] KENYA

Final qualifying round - Pool A:

[1] EGYPT bt [25/28] SERBIA 3/0

  Wael El Hindi bt Ivan Djordjevic 11-6, 11-0, 11-8 (20m)

  Karim Darwish bt Dennis Drenjovski 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (18m)

  Ramy Ashour bt Daniel Zilic 11-2, 11-5, 11-9 (16m)

[17/24] KUWAIT bt [16] HONG KONG 2/1

  Bader Al Hussaini bt Leo Au 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 (47m)

  Abdullah Almezayen bt Dick Lau 11-6, 14-12, 11-6 (49m)

  Salem Fayez Mohammed lost to Max Lee 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11 (35m)

        Final positions: 1 Egypt, 2 Kuwait, 3 Hong Kong, 4 Serbia

Pool B:

[2] ENGLAND bt [15] GERMANY 2/1

  Adrian Grant bt Raphael Kandra 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (32m)

  Nick Matthew lost to Simon Rosner 11-4, 3-3 ret. (20m)

  Peter Barker bt Jens Schoor 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (29m)

[17/24] AUSTRIA bt [25/28] JAPAN 2/1

  Stefan Brauneis bt Shimizu Takanori 3-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 (44m)

  Aqeel Rehman bt Yuta Fukui 4-11, 11-3, 11-9, 4-11, 11-9 (65m)

  Jakob Dirnberger lost to Tsukue Shinnosuke 6-11, 10-12, 10-12 (25m)

        Final positions: 1 England, 2 Germany, 3 Austria, 4 Japan

Pool C:

[3] FRANCE bt [14] IRELAND 3/0

  Renan Lavigne bt Keith Moran 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (27m)

  Gregory Gaultier bt Liam Kenny 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (37m)

  Thierry Lincou bt Arthur Gaskin 11-9, 11-1, 11-8 (28m)

        Final positions: 1 France, 2 Ireland, 3 Denmark

Pool D:

[4] AUSTRALIA bt [13] NETHERLANDS 2/1

  Aaron Frankcomb bt Rene Mijs 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (68m)

  David Palmer lost to Laurens Jan Anjema 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 10-12 (75m)

  Cameron Pilley bt Piedro Schweertman 11-0, 11-6, 13-11 (31m)

        Final positions: 1 Australia, 2 Netherlands, 3 Wales

Pool E:

[5] MALAYSIA bt [12] USA 3/0

  Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan bt Preston Quick 11-3, 15-13, 12-10 (41m)

  Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt Julian Illingworth 11-6, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6 (48m)

  Ong Beng Hee bt Gilly Lane 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (51m)

        Final positions: 1 Malaysia, 2 USA, 3 Finland

Pool F:

[11] SOUTH AFRICA bt [6] PAKISTAN 2/1

  Clinton Leeuw bt Yasir Butt 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8 (51m)

  Stephen Coppinger bt Aamir Atlas Khan 10-12, 2-11, 11-9, 11-1, 12-10 (55m)

  Rodney Durbach lost to Farhan Mehboob 7-11, 2-11, 5-11 (25m)

[17/24] SWEDEN bt [25/28] KENYA 3/0

  Joakim Larsson bt Hartaj Bains 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4 (43m)

  Rasmus Hult bt Hardeep Reel 11-1, 11-4, 11-8 (29m)

  Carl-Johan Lofvenborg bt Rajdeep Bains 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (27m)

        Final positions: 1 South Africa, 2 Pakistan, 3 Sweden, 4 Kenya

Pool G:

[7] CANADA bt [10] NEW ZEALAND 3/0

  Shawn Delierre bt Martin Knight 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 (75m)

  Jonathon Power bt Kashif Shuja 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (34m)

  Shahier Razik bt Campbell Grayson 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (41m)

        Final positions: 1 Canada, 2 New Zealand, 3 Spain

Pool H:

[8] ITALY bt [9] INDIA 2/1

  Jose Facchini bt Gaurav Nandrajog 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (32m)

  Davide Bianchetti bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 13-11, 11-7, 11-8 (35m)

  Amr Swelim lost to Harinder Pal Sandhu 9-11, 9-11, 9-11 (42m)

[17/24] SCOTLAND bt [25/28] VENEZUELA 3/0

  Chris Small bt Juan Pablo Sanchez 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (16m)

  Alan Clyne bt Francisco Valecillo 11-0, 11-3, 11-1 (15m)

  Stuart Crawford bt Juan Pablo Rothie 11-4, 7-11, 11-0, 11-3 (25m)

        Final positions: 1 Italy, 2 Scotland, 3 India, 4 Venezuela

Scotland Trounce India In World Team Championship Upset

After two days of toil between 28 nations competing in the 22nd Men's World Team Squash Championship in Denmark, Scotland recorded the only significant upset when they beat ninth seeds India in the qualifying rounds of the World Squash Federation event at the Squash Center Denmark in the city of Odense.

Seeded outside the top 16 and featuring a squad each ranked below their equivalent opponents, Scotland went into the tie led by Alan Clyne, the world No83 from Edinburgh, who beat India's Ritwik Bhattacharya - ranked almost 20 places higher - 11-7, 11-4, 11-5. 

The British side sealed victory when unranked Chris Small, a 31-year-old from Dunfermline, beat Gaurav Nandrajog 11-8, 11-9, 11-5.  The Scots celebrated a 3/0 win when squad number two, the world No 132 from Edinburgh, beat Harinder Pal Sandhu, from Chennai, 12-10, 11-4, 11-6.

India restored some pride later in Pool H by beating outsiders Venezuela 3/0, while Scotland went down 3/0 to Pool favourites Italy, the eighth seeds.

Defending champions England scored straightforward 3/0 wins over Japan and Austria in Pool B, while event favourites Egypt were also untroubled against Hong Kong and Kuwait.

Qualifying rounds - Pool A:

[1] EGYPT bt [17/24] KUWAIT 3/0

  Amr Shabana bt Abdullah Almezayen 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 (21m)

  Wael El Hindi bt Bader Al Hussaini 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (31m)

  Ramy Ashour bt Salem Fayez Mohammed 11-4, 11-4, 12-10 (18m)

[16] HONG KONG bt SERBIA 3/0

  Dick Lau bt Dennis Drenjovski 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (26m)

  Anson Kwong bt Marko Matanovic 11-3, 11-1, 11-2 (18m)

  Max Lee bt Ivan Djordjevic 10-12, 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 (25m)

[1] EGYPT bt [16] HONG KONG 3/0

  Amr Shabana bt Dick Lau 11-5, 11-2, 11-1 (24m)

  Wael El Hindi bt Anson Kwong 12-10, 11-7, 12-10 (31m)

  Ramy Ashour bt Max Lee 11-7, 11-7, 12-10 (26m)

[17/24] KUWAIT bt SERBIA 3/0

  Abdullah Almezayen bt Daniel Zilic 11-6, 11-3, 11-1 (25m)

  Bader Al Hussaini bt Marko Matanovic 11-2, 11-0, 11-1 (17m)

  Salem Fayez Mohammed bt Ivan Djordjevic 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 (11m)

Pool B:

[2] ENGLAND bt JAPAN 3/0

  Nick Matthew bt Yuta Fukui 6-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (37m)

  Adrian Grant bt Shimizu Takanori 11-5, 11-2, 11-2 (26m)

  James Willstrop bt Tsukue Shinnosuke 11-1, 11-5, 11-3 (43m)

[15] GERMANY bt [17/24] AUSTRIA 3/0

  Simon Rosner bt Aqeel Rehman 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 (29m)

  Stefan Leifels bt Stefan Brauneis 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (24m)

  Jens Schoor bt Jakob Dirnberger 15-13, 11-3, 11-8 (33m)

[2] ENGLAND bt [17/24] AUSTRIA 3/0

  James Willstrop bt Aqeel Rehman 11-3, 13-11, 9-11, 11-6 (39m)

  Adrian Grant bt Christian Coufal 11-4, 11-5, 11-0 (22m)

  Peter Barker bt Jakob Dirnberger 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 (25m)

[15] GERMANY bt JAPAN 3/0

  Simon Rosner bt Yuta Fukui 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 (23m)

  Stefan Leifels bt Jun Matsumoto 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (28m)

  Jens Schoor bt Tsukue Shinnosuke 6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 (50m)

Pool C:

[14] IRELAND bt [17/24] DENMARK 3/0

  Liam Kenny bt Rasmus Nielsen 5-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8 (57m)

  Derek Ryan bt Danny Knudsen 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 (44m)

  Arthur Gaskin bt Kristian Frost Olesen 11-8, 11-1, 8-11, 11-5 (40m)

[3] FRANCE bt [17/24] DENMARK 3/0

  Thierry Lincou bt Rasmus Nielsen 11-9, 11-3, 11-5 (27m)

  Julien Balbo bt Kim Povlsen 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 (26m)

  Renan Lavigne bt Kristian Frost Olesen 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7 (57m)

Pool D:

[13] NETHERLANDS bt [17/24] WALES 2/1

  Laurens Jan Anjema bt Rob Sutherland 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (37m)

  Sebastian Weenink lost to Peter Creed 5-11, 6-11, 11-3, 9-11 (39m)

  Piedro Schweertman bt Jethro Binns 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (38m)

[4] AUSTRALIA bt [17/24] WALES 3/0

  Stewart Boswell bt Rob Sutherland 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (31m)

  Aaron Frankcomb bt Nic Birt 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (25m)

  Cameron Pilley bt Peter Creed 11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 11-3 (43m)

Pool E:

[12] USA bt [17/24] FINLAND 2/1

  Julian Illingworth lost to Olli Tuominen 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 4-11 (48m)

  Christopher Gordon bt Matias Tuomi 10-12, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-7 (81m)

  Gilly Lane bt Henrik Mustonen 11-9, 11-2, 11-3 (30m)

[5] MALAYSIA bt [17/24] FINLAND 2/1

  Mohd Azlan Iskandar lost to Olli Tuominen 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 6-11 (51m)

  Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan bt Hameed Ahmed 11-8, 11-8, 11-1 (29m)

  Ong Beng Hee bt Henrik Mustonen 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-4 (40m)

Pool F:

[6] PAKISTAN bt KENYA 3/0

  Aamir Atlas Khan bt Hardeep Reel 11-3, 11-6, 11-6 (19m)

  Yasir Butt bt Joseph Ndungu Karigithe 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 (18m)

  Farhan Mehboob bt Rajdeep Bains 11-2, 11-6, 11-6 (20m)

[11] SOUTH AFRICA bt [17/24] SWEDEN 2/1

  Stephen Coppinger lost to Rasmus Hult 11-9, 5-11, 9-11, 7-11 (55m)

  Clinton Leeuw bt Joakim Larsson 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 (26m)

  Jesse Engelbrecht bt Carl-Johan Lofvenborg 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (30m)

[6] PAKISTAN bt [17/24] SWEDEN 3/0

  Aamir Atlas Khan bt Rasmus Hult 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (30m)

  Mansoor Zaman bt Andre Vikstrom 11-8, 11-3, 11-0 (24m)

  Farhan Mehboob bt Carl-Johan Lofvenborg 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 (21m)

[11] SOUTH AFRICA bt KENYA 3/0

  Rodney Durbach bt Hardeep Reel 11-6, 11-2, 11-6 (23m)

  Clinton Leeuw bt Joseph Ndungu Karigithe 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 (27m)

  Jesse Engelbrecht bt Hartaj Bains 11-6, 11-3, 11-7 (20m)

Pool G:

[10] NEW ZEALAND bt [17/24] SPAIN 2/1

  Kashif Shuja lost to David Vidal 11-0, 11-7, 8-11, 8-11, 6-11 (53m)

  Martin Knight bt Eduardo Gonzales De Chaves 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (37m)

  Campbell Grayson bt Alejandro Garbi Caro 9-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3 (60m)

[7] CANADA bt [17/24] SPAIN 3/0

  Jonathon Power bt David Vidal 11-6, 11-4, 11-1 (28m)

  Shawn Delierre bt Carlos Cornes Ribadas 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 (28m)

  Shahier Razik bt Alejandro Garbi Caro 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (35m)

Pool H:

[8] ITALY bt VENEZUELA 3/0

  Marcus Berrett bt Francisco Valecillo 11-2, 11-0, 11-0 (13m)

  Jose Facchini bt Juan Pablo Sanchez 11-3, 11-5, 11-1 (19m)

  Amr Swelim bt Juan Pablo Rothie 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (20m)

[17/24] SCOTLAND bt [9] INDIA 3/0

  Alan Clyne bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 (29m)

  Chris Small bt Gaurav Nandrajog 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 (43m)

  Stuart Crawford bt Harinder Pal Sandhu 12-10, 11-4, 11-6 (30m)

[8] ITALY bt [17/24] SCOTLAND 3/0

  Davide Bianchetti bt Alan Clyne 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (68m)

  Amr Swelim bt Chris Small 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (35m)

  Marcus Berrett bt Stuart Crawford 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (40m)

[9] INDIA bt VENEZUELA 3/0

  Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Juan Pablo Rothie 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 (23m)

  Gaurav Nandrajog bt Gabriel Teran 11-1, 11-3, 11-5 (16m)

  Harinder Pal Sandhu bt Juan Pablo Sanchez 11-5, 11-3, 11-1 (18m)