A month before the 2007 Men’s World Team Championships, Egypt looked like a near certain winner with four players ranked in the World’s Top Ten. Though England was seeded No. 2 in the event, not many gave them much hope of winning with the likes of World No. 1 Amr Shabana and World No. 2 Ramy Ashour leading the Egyptian team.
However, after suffering a foot injury just prior to the World Open only two weeks before the start of the team event, Ashour was forced to withdraw. Curiously, Egypt held onto its top seeding despite the change in line-up, but the door to a possible repeat win by England was cracked open.
True to form, the top four seeds of Egypt, England, No. 3 France and No. 4 Australia (another surprising seeding given the unexpected retirement of Anthony Ricketts), made it through the qualifying rounds unscathed and ultimately into the semifinals with Egypt to face Australia, and England meeting the French.
Still, England’s chances of reaching the final would take a monumental effort by Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, not to mention No. 3 player and first time world team member, Peter Barker. With Matthew facing Gregory Gaultier, who himself had been in the World Open final the week before, and Willstrop taking on Thierry Lincou, the outcome was likely in the hands of Barker. Leading off the tie, Barker played extremely well and beat Renan Lavigne in three games to stake England to an early lead. Matthew then played one of the best matches of his life by destroying Gaultier, 3, 6, 4, in just 41 minutes.
On the other side of the draw, the Aussies, in search of their eighth team title, finally put an end to Egyptian hopes when David Palmer beat World Open champion Shabana in four, and Stewart Boswell stopped Karim Darwish in a 73-minute four-game match of his own.
The result was a final between England and Australia for the first time since 1991. Palmer and Matthew led off at No. 1, with Palmer surviving an 82-minute, five-game battle. With the tie on the line, Willstrop stopped Boswell in three tight games, leaving it up to the No. 3’s—Barker and Cameron Pilley who was also making his first appearance in the team event. Sixty minutes later, England were crowned champions for the fourth time since 1995 when Barker put the finishing touches on a three-game victory.
“We were represented by an exceptional group of players,” said England Squash Chief Executive Nick Rider. “Winning a world championship is difficult enough, and retaining it so convincingly is testament to the courage and determination of these world-class guys. We are immensely proud of them.”
