Team USA is through to the 1-16 playoff in the 2017 WSF Men’s World Team Championship courtesy of a 3-0 victory against South Africa on the final day of pool play at Modern Squash in Marseille, France.
Second place in Pool F and a spot in the 1-16 playoff was on the line with both teams entering the match with losses against six seed New Zealand.
World No. 51 Todd Harrity stepped up to give Team USA a 1-0 advantage in the first match, defeating Trinity Sophomore Thoboki Mohohlo 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 in thirty-one minutes.
Chris Gordon stepped on court next in the No. 2 match with a chance to seal the victory against former world No. 23 Rodney Durbach. After dropping the first game against the crafty veteran, Gordon came back to seal passage to the last sixteen 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-3 in forty-six minutes.
In the dead rubber No. 3 match, Chris Hanson notched his second victory of the tournament against Gary Wheadon 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 in thirty-six minutes.
“The 1,2,3 playing order was good for us,” said Paul Assaiante, the Ganek Family US Squash Head National Coach. “Thoboki moves like a cat so we had to keep the pace high. We were surprised to see Rodney at two: he has magical hands and is a wonderful competitor, and still plays a great game, but Chris dealt with him well.
“Now we get into the tall weeds, the team feels good and the guys are enjoying each other’s company.”
Team USA has drawn five seeds Hong Kong in the first round of the last sixteen, which is set to play out on Thursday, November 30.
Follow live scores for Thursday’s match at 3:30pm local time, 9:30am ET, on www.wsfmensteams.com.
For more tournament coverage visit www.wsfmensteams.com.
