A touch of social activity can go a long way in sports. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on the World Men's Team Squash Championship In the middle of the 20th World Men's Team Squash Championship of 2005, now playing in Islamabad, Pakistan, around 50 representatives and players of squash teams from 22 countries left their racquets and courts and went with flowers and gifts on a visit they had requested. In a land of giant calamities, the players visited the children's surgical ward of Pakistan's Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) to express solidarity with the victims of last month's earthquake. They were accompanied by Andrew Shelley, director of the World Squash Federation (WSF) and members of the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF). The players mingled with children and distributed sweets and gifts and also talked with the parents. The players were moved by the sight of children who were admitted to the hospital following the earthquake that rocked northern Pakistan, and prayed for the children's recovery. The children in turn were delighted when they were told that these were some of the world's most famous squash players who had come to visit them. Thousands of earthquake survivors are still without shelter more than two months on. The earthquake that hit Pakistan two months ago killed over 80,000 people and left an estimated 3.5 million survivors homeless. The Pakistani government estimated that 480,000 houses need to be rebuilt in Pakistani-administered Kashmir alone. Before the visit on Sunday, the pool qualifying games ended and the playoffs were about to start. Second seeded Egypt ended their qualifying campaign by topping their Pool B. The newly crowned world champion Amr Shabana, Wa'el El-Hindi, Karim Darwish and Mohamed Abbas were representing Egypt. Shabana took a break from two of the three games during the qualifying matches but his mates filled in admirably. They cruised to victory, sweeping the pool of Iran, Germany and New Zealand 3/0. Egypt opened with Iran. El-Hindi hammered Mohamad Hassan Jafari 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Darwish beat Majid Rohani 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Abbas ousted Poya Ahmad Abadi 9-1, 9-0, 9-2. Egypt then handled Germany easily. El-Hindi beat Patrick Gaessler 9-3, 9-0, 9-0; Darwish ousted Simon Rosner 9-2, 9-2, 9-3; Abbas skipped by Simon Baker 9-3, 9-0, 9-1. In the final round of the pool against New Zealand, El-Hindi as usual played first and beat Martin Knight 9-2, 9-2, 9-1; Shabana beat Kashif Shuja 9-4, 9-0, 9-0; Darwish ended any Kiwi hopes by hammering Callum O'Brien 9-1, 9-0, 9-0. Joining Egypt, Germany claimed a surprise place in the knockout stage to win a top 12 placement. After upsetting New Zealand in the first qualifying round, Germany clinched their place in the elite group by beating Iran 3/0. Together with Egypt and Germany, 10 other teams booked their places as well. Favourites England swept to their third successive 3/0 win in the tournament with a comprehensive victory over Austria. Former world No 1 Peter Nicol, playing for the first time as third string for his country, put the top seeds ahead with a 9- 1 9-1 9-2 win over Austrian newcomer Stefan Brauneis. Team-mate James Willstrop, the new world No2 and England No1, conceded just a single point as he destroyed Aqeel Rehman to ensure England's expected future as winners of Pool A. South Africa faced an uphill task after Kuwait took the first rubber, but pulled through to claim second spot in a thrilling climax. India justified their 10th place seeding by overcoming Ireland 2/1 to finish in second place behind France in Pool C, thereby qualifying for a place in the knockout stages for the top 12 nations. Holders Australia brushed aside The Netherlands in Pool D, both having already qualified for the 1-12 playoffs. Wales secured their place in the top group with a 3/0 win over Hong Kong in Pool E, followed by Canada. Hosts Pakistan ended their qualifying campaign by beating sixth seeds Malaysia 3/0 in the final tie in Pool F to finish ahead of their higher-seeded Asian rivals. Defending champions Australia, former champions Egypt, France and England receive byes in the next knockout stage of the competition whose champion will be crowned today.
