WSF Men’s World Team Championship: New Zealand Finish 13th with Win over Canada, Egypt Win Title

New Zealand has beaten Canada to finish 13th at the WSF Men’s World Team Championship in Tauranga, while Egypt has  bettered England to win the World Title.

Playing in Mercury Arena, Commonwealth Games athlete Temwa Chileshe was the first Kiwi in action, up against Canada’s Brett Schille. Temwa was dominant off the T, using his reach to volley well and win the first match in three straight games.

World No.3 Paul Coll then took on No.77 Salah Eltorgman with the West Coaster extending his winning streak to 14 matches, making short work of the Canadian to win in three games in 23-minutes. The win saw the New Zealand Team of Coll, brothers Temwa and Lwamba Chileshe, and young Auckland athlete Elijah Thomas, finish 13th overall.

Meanwhile, Egypt won their third consecutive WSF Men’s World Team Championship after a thrilling contest with England in the final.

Going into his match with England’s Marwan ElShorbagy, 22-year-old Mostafa Asal was simply too strong, with inspired pace, power and accuracy seeing the Egyptian clinch a trio of 11-9 wins to take the match 3-0 in 49 minutes.

This left Marwan’s brother, Mohamed, needing a win over old rival and World No.1 Ali Farag to keep England in the tie.

In a pulsating five game battle, which neither man deserved to lose, it was Farag who was able to maintain his concentration, with the 31-year-old controlling the court masterfully as he got his side over the line with an 11-7 win to close out a classic 70-minute encounter.

The final concludes the New Zealand Festival of squash which saw 400 athletes from 30 nations contest three major tournaments across two weeks in Tauranga.

Tournament Director Wayne Werder says the event has been a roaring success.

“We’re really pleased with what’s been a huge event,” said Werder.

“We’ve had more than 10,000 spectators through the venues and we expect the economic benefits generated by this year’s event to far surpass the $1.4m generated by the festival in 2022.

“We’ve had really positive feedback from fans and athletes alike about a great tournament where we’ve seen some amazing squash played. Our international guests have also loved getting out and exploring Tauranga and seeing some of what our country has to offer.

“The Tauranga organising committee team has been on this journey since 2015 preparing for the 2017 World Junior Champs, as well as the 2022 and 2023 New Zealand Festival of Squash. I’d like to thank our team, our sponsors and everyone who’s helped to put this festival together, and we’re thrilled that the legacy will continue, with Christchurch set to host the New Zealand Squash Open in early 2025.”