James Willstrop lost the deciding match as England were beaten 2-1 by Egypt in the final of the World Team Squash Championship.
In the climax of the tournament in Paderborn, Germany, England's world number one Nick Matthew suffered a straight-sets defeat to Ramy Ashour in the opening match before Peter Barker overcame Hisham Mohamed Ashour to level the score.
It was left to Willstrop and Karim Darwish to settle the contest, and the 29-year-old Egyptian triumphed 11-5 13-11 9-11 11-4.
Darwish said: "I think I played one of my best matches - I think I played superb squash. I don't think a lot of people expected us to win.
"James is a great player - and I had to be 100% against him. It was one of the biggest matches I have ever played, and I was really focused - I really didn't want to lose."
Matthew had lost his match 11-7 11-9 14-12, while Barker had beaten the older Ashour brother 11-6 11-9 11-7.
Matthew said of his own defeat: "I wasn't playing my best squash. But if I'd won that third game I think I could have gone on to win the match."
Update:
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