England meet Egypt once again in men's world team final

England will meet Egypt for the sixth time in succession in the WSF World Team Championships men's final after they made quick work of beating Switzerland in Hong Kong on Saturday.

In the evening session on the outdoor all-glass court at Hong Kong Football Club, the ElShorbagy brothers raced through their respective matches to give England a 2-0 victory over last year's bronze medallists.

Mohamed ElShorbagy was intensely focused as he hurried through the opening two games against world no.18 Dimitri Steinmann - whom he lost against in the first round of last week's Milwaukee Hong Kong Open.

Although the Swiss no.1 stepped up the court and took the third in equally rapid style, the former world champion reprised full control in the fourth to wrap up a 11-2 11-3 4-11 11-4 triumph and give England a 1-0 lead in the tie

Mohamed said afterwards:

"Dimitri is a quality player so it was nice to get a little bit of revenge for last week, but this week you're playing for your country, playing for your team-mates, coaching staff and everyone back home so we both had more weight on our shoulders."At the start of the week I was struggling a little bit with my form but my team-mates were not, so they carried me a little bit, especially in the match with Spain [where he lost to Iker Pajares]. My team-mates spoke to me after that match and we got things in order again. It gave me my confidence back."

Next on court was Mohamed's younger brother Marwan who also blasted through a match with Nicolas Mueller that was peppered with quick fire rallies in the plunging night time temperatures.

Marwan recovered from early deficits in the first two games and cranked up the pressure in the third with a flurry of volley winners, finishing the contest in style with a backhand crosscourt service return that rolled flat out of the nick. In just 23 minutes, the 31-year-old had wrapped up a 11-9 11-9 11-5 win that gave no.3 Curtis Malik a rest before Sunday's final.

World no.11 Marwan reflected:

"It's been a very challenging week but the team has done very well. Egypt are the defending champions and have the best players in the world. All the pressure is on them and we're going to enjoy being in the final with them."

Egypt will be seeking a fourth successive men's World Team trophy after they saw off France 2-1 in the earlier semi-final.

However, it was far from plain sailing for the title favourites as world no.1 Ali Farag found himself 2/0 and 9-7 down against Victor Crouin, before profiting from two no-let decisions at that point and then reversing the match momentum entirely. Farag won an epic battle 1-11 6-11 12-10 11-4 11-6 in 58 minutes and celebrated wildly.

British Open champion Mostafa Asal then sealed Egypt's place in a seventh successive final by efficiently beating Baptiste Masotti 11-8 11-4 11-9. France picked up a consolation as Sebastien Bonmalais won the dead rubber 11-9 7-11 11-5 against Mazen Hesham.

Earlier, England's women secured a fifth-placed finish by beating hosts Hong King, China 3-0 - ending a disrupted campaign on a positive note.

Commonwealth Games singles champion Georgina Kennedy withdrew from the squad through injury before the tournament began, Lucy Beecroft had to make two consecutive 16-hour flights after being called up as a reserve, then Lucy Turmel's participation was limited by a niggling quad injury.

Those issues were forgotten on Saturday afternoon though as Sarah Jane Perry overcame world no.25 Tomato Ho in the opener 11-6 5-11 11-7 12-10 and former British champion Jasmine Hutton then sealed the team's win by seeing off Chan Sik Yuk 11-4 11-8 11-6. Both sides agreed to play the best-of-three dead rubber which Turmel clinched 11-4 11-4 against Ka Yi Lee.