Kelly Sibley kept up her good form with three wins as England’s women beat Belgium 3-1 and New Zealand 3-0 at the World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur.
And the men’s team have their first win as they beat Denmark 3-1, following earlier defeat to France.
England No 1 Sibley defeated Belgium’s leading player Lisa Lung 3-0 to get England off to a good start in their Group E clash and later sealed victory with another straight-game win over Eline Loyen.
In between, Loyen came from 2-0 down to take Tin-Tin Ho to a decider in match two, but the English teenager responded to win it 11-4. Karina Le Fevre also experienced a decider but saw her opponent Margo Degraef claim the victory to take the overall match into a fourth rubber.
Against New Zealand, all three England players won in three straight, with Le Fevre notching her first victory of the tournament.
England face Canada at 2am UK time on Tuesday and conclude their group campaign against top seeds Serbia – the only other unbeaten nation in the group – on Wednesday.
England’s men were beaten 3-0 by ninth seeds France in their second match in Group B.
Liam Pitchford went down 3-1 to world No 73 Emmanuel Lebesson and Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker were then both beaten in three straight by world No 27 Simon Gauzy and No 106 Tristan Flore respectively.
But they got their first victory over Denmark, despite Drinkhall being edged out in an opening-match thriller, 16-14 in the deciding fifth game by Jonathan Groth.
Pitchford made it all square by beating Tobias Rusmussen 3-1 and later clinched match win by overcoming Groth by the same score. In between, Walker got his first triumph of the campaign, against Mikkel Hindersson.
England now face the group’s top seeds Germany, who were surprisingly beaten 3-1 by France today, at 5am UK time on Tuesday.
Results
Men’s Championship Division
Group B
France 3 England 0
Emmanuel Lebesson bt Liam Pitchford 3-1 (12-10, 13-11, 8-11, 12-10)
Simon Gauzy bt Paul Drinkhall 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-8)
Tristan Flore bt Sam Walker 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-8)
England 3 Denmark 1
Jonathan Groth bt Drinkhall 3-2 (10-12, 11-6, 2-11, 11-4, 16-14)
Pitchford bt Tobias Rasmussen 3-1 (14-16, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9)
Walker bt Mikkel Hindersson 3-1 (5-11, 11-1, 11-4, 11-9)
Pitchford bt Groth 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6)
Women’s Second Division
Group E
England 3 Belgium 1
Kelly Sibley bt Lisa Lung 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-9)
Tin-Tin Ho bt Eline Loyen 3-2 (11-9, 19-17, 10-12, 3-11, 11-4)
Margo Degraef bt Karina Le Fevre 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5)
Sibley bt Loyen 3-0 (12-10, 11-4, 11-8)
England 3 New Zealand 0
Sibley bt Ruofei Rao 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-4)
Ho bt Natalie Paterson 3-0 (11-7, 14-12, 11-5)
Le Fevre bt Hui Ling Vong 3-0 (11-2, 14-12, 11-7)