Egypt and England will contest in the final of the WSF World Cup after contrasting successes in the semi-finals in Chennai, India. Underdog Raneem El Weleily (pic) pulled off one of the best wins of her career when she defeated the former world champion Rachael Grinham in the 1st semi between favourites Egypt and 3rd seeds Australia. Ramy Ashour, the world No2, had put Egypt ahead with an 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 victory over the Australian No1 Cameron Pilley, the world No14. In the best-of-three ‘dead’ rubber that followed, world No3 Karim Darwish beat Tasmanian Aaron Frankcomb 11-8, 9-11, 11-5 to give Egypt maximum points. England had a shock in their later semi against 5th seeds Malaysia when world No2 Jenny Duncalf was forced to retire injured in her match against Low Wee Wern after just 3 games. James Willstrop, the England No1 ranked 4 in the world, had put the title-holders ahead earlier after comfortably beating Malaysia’s Muhd Asyraf Azan, ranked 57 places lower, 11-7, 11-3, 11-1. There were sighs of relief from the England camp shortly afterwards when the 2nd seeds clinched their place in the final after Peter Barker beat Malaysian No3 Choong Kam Hing 11-1, 11-4, 11-4.
