RESULTS: JSW SDAT WSF World Cup, Chennai, India
Final qualifying round - Pool A:
[8]SOUTH AFRICA 3 [9]SRI LANKA 0
Stephen Coppinger bt Gihan Suwaris 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 (20m)
Tenille Swartz bt Sharya Guruge 11-5, 11-4, 11-0 (16m)
Clinton Leeuw bt Dilshan Gunawardena 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (15m)
[5]MALAYSIA 2 [4]FRANCE 1
Muhd Asyraf Azan lost to Mathieu Castagnet 4-11, 13-11, 3-11, 0-11 (68m)
Nicol David bt Coline Aumard 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (20m)
Kamran Khan bt Gregoire Marche 5-11, 11-9, 11-3, 2-11, 11-4 (71m)
Final positions: 1 Egypt, 2 Malaysia, 3 France, 4 South Africa, 5 Sri Lanka
Pool B:
[2]ENGLAND 3 [3]AUSTRALIA 0
James Willstrop bt Cameron Pilley 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10 (54m)
Jenny Duncalf bt Rachael Grinham 11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9 (57m)
Peter Barker bt Aaron Frankcomb 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (43m)
[6]INDIA 2 [7]MEXICO 1
Saurav Ghosal bt Cesar Salazar 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (34m)
Dipika Pallikal lost to Samantha Teran 11-7, 12-14, 9-11, 11-13 (68m)
Siddharth Suchde bt Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira 11-9, 11-1, 11-3 (24m)
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Australia, 3 India, 4 Mexico
In today's final qualifying round of the JSW SDAT WSF World Cup in Chennai, Malaysia produced the event's first upset by beating fourth seeds France to earn a surprise place in the semi-finals of the World Squash Federation mixed team championship at the Express Avenue Mall.
After early rounds at the Indian Squash Academy, matches were being played for the first time on an all-glass show court sited in the central atrium of the Express Avenue Mall, the largest shopping complex in southern India in which crowds on four floors were able to witness the world-class action.
Led by Nicol David, the 27-year-old from Penang who has topped the women's world rankings since August 2006, fifth seeds Malaysia fell behind when Muhd Asyraf Azan went down 11-4, 11-13, 11-3, 11-0 to top-ranked Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet.
But it took David just 20 minutes to restore order for the underdogs with her 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 dismissal of Coline Aumard, the French number two who is ranked 68 places lower in the world.
But the star of the Malaysian team was Kamran Khan, the 21-year-old from Kuala Lumpur who was making his senior international debut in the event.
Ranked ten places behind French opponent Gregoire Marche, Khan recovered from a heavy defeat in the fourth game to beat the former European Junior champion 5-11, 11-9, 11-3, 2-11, 11-4 in a 71-minute marathon.
"I'm really happy to help my team get to the semi-finals," said the jubilant Malaysian. "It's my first time at a team event."
Khan paid tribute to his illustrious world No1 team-mate: "I've learned a lot from being around Nicol - she's not only a very nice person but she has helped me a lot with my game.
"Greg is a good player - I've watched him a lot on the PSA Tour, but I haven't played him since we were about 15. I knew it wouldn't be easy - but I just tried to play my game.
"I won the third game easily - and then relaxed too much. I really wanted to win it for Malaysia," added Khan.
Malaysian team coach Raymond Arnold knew the encounter would be close. "It was even close with South Africa the other day - both ties could have gone either way.
"But I'm really pleased for the players - and it was a massive game for Kamran."
On hearing that Malaysia will now face defending champions England for a place in the final, Nicol David added: "I'm really pleased get to the semis - Kamran was really strong. I look forward to playing England - but whoever we got would have been tough."