Alkass English
Hosts Qatar brought their FIP World Cup campaign to a close with a 2-1 defeat against Germany in their third Group C tie at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Wednesday.
Despite a determined display from Asian Games gold medallists Rashed Nawaf and Mashari Nawaf, who secured Qatar's only point of the encounter, the hosts were unable to avoid a third successive defeat in the competition.
Germany took an early advantage when A. Reca and M. Wunner cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Qatar's Rayyan Aljufairi and Essa Alharrasi in the opening match.
However, the Nawaf brothers brought the hosts back into contention with an impressive comeback win against J. Lindmeyer and B. Fitzon. After dropping the first set 2-6, the Qatari duo responded with a 6-3 victory in the second before edging the deciding set 6-4. The closely fought encounter lasted one hour and 41 minutes.
Their victory levelled the tie at 1-1, raising hopes of Qatar recording their first win of the tournament. Germany, however, had the final say as C. Boehnke and N. Merten defeated Hassan Adel Waly and Mohammed Saadon Al-Kuwari 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and six minutes to secure the overall win.
Elsewhere in Group C, Portugal booked their place at the top of the standings with a 2-1 victory over Chile.
M. Deus and N. Deus put Portugal ahead with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win against P. Vacarezza Kuhlmann and A. Torres. Chile responded through J. Valdes and C. Molina, who defeated S. Ferreira Nunes Foios Simoes and P. Perry 6-4, 6-2 to draw the tie level.
Portugal ultimately prevailed in the deciding match, with D. Jesus and A. Luque overcoming C. Martinez and S. Munoz Campos 6-3, 6-2 to seal their team's victory and top position in the group.
Meanwhile, Spain, last edition's runners-up, maintained their impressive form in Group B with a commanding 3-0 win over the United Arab Emirates.
In the women's competition, defending champions Spain and Argentina completed unbeaten group-stage campaigns to secure leading positions heading into the quarter-finals.
Spain finished first in Group A with a flawless record after sweeping Brazil 3-0, conceding just four games across the three matches. Despite the loss, Brazil also progressed to the next round after finishing second, ahead of Great Britain, who secured a 3-0 victory over Germany.
Argentina claimed the Group B top spot with a comprehensive 3-0 triumph over France. Delfi Brea and Claudia Jensen, Aranzazu Osoro and Martina Fassio, and Virginia Riera and Julieta Bidahorria all delivered victories to complete Argentina's perfect group-stage run.