"We were certainly taken to the wire," Indian coach Cyrus Poncha (le9 told after the match later. "We knew Hong Kong were a very strong team, and we were ready for it (phost: Steve Cubbins, SquashSite) A dramatic fight-back in the quarter-finals in Qatar sees India (pic) back in the top 4 of the of the WSF Men's World Junior Team Championship.
The seedings suggested a close encounter against Asian rivals Hong Kong China, the 5th seeds – but 4th seeds India were on a mission to make up for a 5th place finish in the 2010 championship. India's reward is a meeting with favourites Egypt. The defending champions, looking for their 4th title since 1994, despatched Canada 3/0.
The other semi-final will see 2nd seeds and 4-time former champions Pakistan take on England, the No3 seeds and also previous winners of the title four times. Pakistan brushed aside surprise opponents Japan 2/0 in well under an hour, while England defeated 6th seeds USA 3/0.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [4] INDIA
[2] PAKISTAN v [3] ENGLAND
5th – 8th place play-offs:
[5] HONG KONG CHINA v [10] CANADA
[6] USA v [13/18] JAPAN
9th – 12th place play-offs:
[13/18] BRAZIL v [11] NEW ZEALAND
[12] KUWAIT v [13/18] GERMANY
13th – 16th place play-offs:
[7] FRANCE v ARGENTINA
[8] COLOMBIA v [13/18] SOUTH AFRICA
17th – 20th place play-offs:
[9] AUSTRALIA v ZIMBABWE
[13/18] BELGIUM v QATAR
