India Upset Malaysia & Australia To Reach World Teams Quarters

India enjoyed double delight at Hong Kong Football Club as they reached the last eight of the WSF World Team Championships after their men's team upset No.5 seeds Malaysia and their women's side took down nine-time champions Australia.

Seeded 9/12, India's men came up against the reigning ASF Asian Team champions with a lot to do, a task that became even harder after their first string Abhay Singh went down 3/0 to Malaysian first string Eain Yow Ng.

The team's response was excellent, though. With today's string order 1-3-2, it was up to third string Veer Chotrani to rescue his side, and the 23-year-old confidently pulled India level with a win in straight games over Mohammad Syafiq Kamal.

In the decider, second string Velavan Senthilkumar proved the hero for his side, ramping up the pressure after an even start to win 11-8, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4.

That win for the men followed a strong showing from their women's team, with the 10/12 seeded side overcoming 7/9 seeds Australia 2/1 after comfortable wins for Anahat Singh and Akanksha Salunkhe, either side of a loss for Nirupama Dubey to Sarah Cardwell.

"It feels really good to make the top eight," Senthilkumar said.

"It was a good match and being the deciding match, there's always a bit of pressure. I was nervous but I got better and better as the match went on."

India's men will face France in the next round after the No.3 seeds beat South Africa 2/0. India's women will play 2022 runners up USA, with the No.2 seeds receiving a bye after the pools stage.

Meanwhile, hosts Hong Kong came back from difficult starts in both competitions as their No.6 seeded women's team edged past Scotland while their No.8 seeded men beat No.7 seeds USA.

The women's side had sailed through the Pools stage, but struggled against 10/12 seeds Scotland, with Tomato Ho convincingly beaten by Georgia Adderley before Tsz-Wing Tong beat Ellie Jones in straight games and then Ka Yi Lee nervously survived a comeback from Alison Thomson to claim an 11-8, 11-4, 14-16, 10-12, 11-9 victory.

The men's side, meanwhile, came back from a match down for the second tie in a row as Alex Lau lost a five-game thriller to Timothy Brownell before Ming Hong Tang and Henry Leung delivered 3/1 wins against Nicholas Spizzirri and Spencer Lovejoy, respectively.

Coach Faheem Khan said afterwards: "I'm really proud of both of the teams, they have done really well. That was exciting!"

The hosts' women's team will play No.3 seeds Belgium in the quarter-finals. The men will take on No.2 seeds England, who survived a huge scare against 13/16 seeds Spain, with England No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy being flattened by Iker Pajares 11-6, 11-8, 11-1 before Curtis Malik overcame Edmon Lopez in a bad-tempered clash and Marwan ElShorbagy defeated Ivan Perez in straight games.