After a full day of final qualifying action in the World Junior Men’s Team Championship in Zurich, New Zealand and Finland emerged as the only nations to produce upsets on the second day of the biennial World Squash Federation championship being held for the first time in Switzerland.

After beating event debutantes China 3/0 in the opening tie of the day, ninth seeds New Zealand faced Hong Kong, the eighth seeds, in the decider in Pool H. Cameron Jamieson got the Kiwi team off to a winning start, outlasting Fung Ji Yang 5-9, 9-1, 4-9, 9-6, 2-5, with the Hong Kong player forced to retire with cramp after 73 minutes on court.

However, Leo Au levelled the tie for the Asian side, handing the New Zealand number one Evan Williams his first defeat of the teams event, with a 9-3, 10-9, 9-5 victory in 50 minutes.

That left Alex Grayson the task of winning the tie for New Zealand, which he duly achieved with a 9-3, 9-3, 9-4 victory over Nelson Chan in the battle of the number threes.

In the last sixteen round knockout stage, New Zealand now face tenth seeds Canada for a place in the quarter-finals.

Finland, seeded in the 17/24 group, are now sure of a top 16 finish after upsetting 16th seeds Wales in the final encounter in Pool A. While pool favourites Egypt, the title-holders, made sure of qualification by beating Ecuador 3/0 to top the pool table, Finland fought back from a match down to beat Wales 2/1 to claim second place.

Welsh hopes were high when squad number three Sam Fenwick beat Joonas Honkanen 9-6, 9-7, 2-9, 9-4 in the opening match. But the Finnish top string Henrik Mustonen struck back to beat Hywel Robinson 9-3, 9-1, 9-5, before Ville Hiltunen sealed victory for the underdogs with a 10-8, 9-4, 10-9 win over David Haley.

Finland now face second seeds Pakistan in the last sixteen round after the 2006 runners-up coasted to victory in Pool B with comprehensive 3/0 wins over both Kuwait and Bermuda.

Last sixteen round line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [15] KUWAIT
[9] NEW ZEALAND v [10] CANADA
[3] ENGLAND v [13] SOUTH AFRICA
[6] MALAYSIA v [12] USA
[5] INDIA v [11] AUSTRALIA
[4] FRANCE v [14] SWITZERLAND
[7] GERMANY v [8] HONG KONG
[2] PAKISTAN v [17/24] FINLAND

17th - 31st place play-offs:
[16] WALES bye
[17/24] SPAIN v [25/31] BERMUDA
[17/24] DENMARK v [25/31] ECUADOR
[17/24] NETHERLANDS v [25/31] ITALY
[17/24] GUATEMALA v [25/31] VENEZUELA
[17/24] BELGIUM v [25/31] CHINA
[17/24] SWEDEN v [25/31] IRELAND
[17/24] CZECH REPUBLIC v [25/31] CAYMAN ISLANDS

Howard Harding