Defeats against England and France had left the Germany’s participation in the main draw of the tournament in the balance.

The prospects of the 2014 silver medallists took were dealt an early blow after England cruised to a 3-0 victory over hosts Malaysia.

Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford secured straight games wins over Muhamad Ashraf Haiqal and Leong Chee Feng respectively.

Sam Walker completed the England victory by defeating Muhd Shakirin Ibrahim 6-11, 16-14, 11-9, 11-8 in their tie.

The result moved England onto eight points in the group, leaving  Germany requiring a 3-1 victory over Sweden to earn a top three position in the final standings.

Bastian Steger gave their hopes and early boost after he recorded a 12-10, 11-1, 11-4 win over Sweden’s Jon Persson only for them to be pushed to the brink of elimination after Kristian Karlsson levelled the scoreline, winning a thrilling contest with Ruwan Filus by 14-12, 11-9, 7-11, 11-2.

Germany, deprived f their highest ranked player Dimitrij Ovtcharov due to injury, were eliminated from the tournament after Mattias Karlsson sealed a 14-12, 14-12, 13-11 win over Steffen Mengel.

A 9-11, 11-8, 15-17, 11-5, 11-6 win for Filus over Persson and Steger’s 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4 triumph over Kristian Karlsson ultimately helped Germany to a 3-2 win in the tie - leaving them still short of progressing, though.

France eventually finished top of the Group B standings after winning their final match 3-0 against Denmark to continue their unbeaten record.

They will be joined in the next round by Sweden and England, who progressed ahead of Germany due to a better match ratio after each team ended on eight points.

With their fiercest rivals having exited the competition,  China will be confident of defending their title after they completed Group A with a 100 per cent record following a 3-0 win against Austria.

Austria still progressed to the main draw in third position.

North Korea won decider against the Czech Republic 3-2 to seal the final qualifying spot from the group.

Chinese Taipei beat Greece 3-2 to record their first win of the tournament.

In the most crucial Group C tie, Poland overcame Belarus 3-0 to secure their progression at the expense of Ukraine, whose 3-1 over Singapore proved enough for them to finish only in third position.

Japan sealed top spot ahead of Portugal, beating their European opponents 3-1 in their final match.

In Group D, South Korea recorded their fifth straight win by beating second place Hong Kong 3-1 and Croatia defeated Russia 3-2 to earn the third and final qualifying spot for the main draw.

The Ukrainian women’s team fought off competition from Belarus to join Singapore and The Netherlands in qualifying from Group C after they defeated Poland 3-1.

Their win ensured that Belarus finished fourth, despite recording a 3-1 victory themselves over France.

Defending champions China remain the team to beat having  brushed aside Hungary 3-0 to complete Group A unbeaten.

Chinese Taipei and Romania joined them in the next round on nine and eight points respectively.

With identical records of four wins and one defeat Germany, Japan and North Korea all advanced from Group B.

Hong Kong’s 3-1 triumph over North Korea ensured them top spot in Group D ahead of South Korea and Austria, who also advanced.