The success puts Japan - whose previous best finish was 16 in 2006 - against fellow 13/18 seeds Germany in the play-offs for the top 12 places (photo: Steve Cubbins). After sensational upsets on the final day of qualifying in WSF Men's World Junior Team Championship in Doha, both Japan (pic) and Brazil will record their highest-ever finishes in the World Squash championship.
The delighted Japanese team made sure of their best-ever finish by beating eighth-seeded Colombia 2/1.
In 5 previous appearances since 1994, Brazil have not finished higher than 23rd. But the team recovered from losing the 1st match against France to beat the No7 seeds 2/1 to secure 2nd place in Pool F.
Meanwhile the top three seeds Egypt, Pakistan and England wasted no time in completing their 3rd straight 3-0 wins to finish top of their respective pools to take up favoured positions in the play-off draw.
1st – 12th place play-offs:
[1] EGYPT bye
[10] CANADA v [13/18] BRAZIL
[4] INDIA bye
[5] HONG KONG CHINA v [11] NEW ZEALAND
[6] USA v [12] KUWAIT
[3] ENGLAND bye
[13/18] JAPAN v [13/18] GERMANY
[2] PAKISTAN bye
13th – 20th place play-offs:
ARGENTINA bye
ZIMBABWE bye
[9] AUSTRALIA bye
[7] FRANCE v IRAQ
[8] COLOMBIA v [13/18] SWITZERLAND
[13/18] BELGIUM bye
QATAR v GUATEMALA
[13/18] SOUTH AFRICA bye
