Team USA opened its 2017 WSF Men’s World Team Championship campaign with a tough 2-1 loss against six seeds New Zealand Tuesday at Modern Squash in Marseille, France.
New Zealand entered what was their second match in Pool F following a 3-0 victory over twenty-two seeds South Africa on the first day of match play Monday, while Team USA, the eleven seeds, marked its first competitive match of the biennial tournament.
As seeded, New Zealand took a 1-0 advantage in the No. 1 match after world No. 9 Paul Coll dispatched world No. 51 Todd Harrity 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 in forty minutes.
U.S. champion Chris Hanson gave Team USA hope in the ensuing No. 3 match, coming back from losing the first game 8-11 to come back and defeat world No. 87 Evan Williams in four 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 in forty-seven minutes.
With the score level at 1-1, world No. 37 Campbell Grayson and world No. 60 Chris Gordon stepped on court for the rubber match. After fifty-eight minutes, Grayson clinched a second victory for the Kiwis 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6.
While the victory secures the top spot in Pool F for New Zealand, Team USA has everything to play for on Wednesday in their match up against South Africa. The winner will clinch second place and advance to the last sixteen knockout stage, while the loser will play for positions 17-24.
Follow live scores from Wednesday’s match at 7pm local time, 1pm ET, on www.wsfmensteams.com.
For more tournament coverage visit www.wsfmensteams.com.