Team USA (l-r): Chris Hanson, Andrew Douglas, Chris Gordon and Todd Harrity
Team USA faces crucial pool play match ups against France and Malaysia to kick off their WSF Men’s World Team Championship campaign December 15-21, at Squash on Fire in Washington, DC.
Twenty-three nations will compete in the twenty-sixth edition of the biennial world championship, which marks the first time the event has taken place on U.S. soil.
Defending champions Egypt lead the field as the title favorites with a team consisting of world No. 1 Ali Farag, world No. 3 Karim Abdel Gawad, world No. 4 and reigning world champion Tarek Momen, and world No. 8 Mohamed Abouelghar.
The U.S. delegation enters Pool C as the tournament’s thirteen seeds with match ups against three seeds France, ten seeds Malaysia and twenty-two seeds South Korea, December 15-17. The top two teams from each group advance to the 1-12 play off, which means Team USA will need to record at least two pool play victories in order to advance to the top twelve playoff.
The U.S. squad consists of the gold medal-winning Pan American Games team—Todd Harrity, Chris Hanson and Andrew Douglas—and veteran Chris Gordon who returns for his seventh career men’s world teams appearance. Team USA achieved its best men’s world teams finish of seventh place in 2011 and 1983, and most recently placed tenth at the 2017 world teams in France.
Team USA opens its tournament on Squash on Fire’s show court against France Sunday, December 15, at 3pm ET. The French squad includes world No. 14 Gregoire Marche, former world No. 6 Mathieu Castagnet and former world champion Gregory Gaultier. Should the matches against France and South Korea play out according to seeding, Team USA’s match against Malaysia could prove to be pivotal in reaching the 1-12 playoff on Tuesday, December 17, at 3pm.
Follow @USSquash and @TeamUSASquash on Twitter and @USSquash on Instagram for live updates during the tournament.
View all pool play draws and the full schedule on worldteamsquashdc.com/schedule.
All matches from the glass court at Squash on Fire of the 2019 WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship will broadcast live on SQUASHTV to all members with a free digital subscription and will also be available to watch for free via Facebook Watch and the official Facebook pages of the tournament, the WSF and the PSA.
In addition, the live stream will also be cross-posted to the Facebook pages of tournament partners, national federations and players, meaning coverage of the tournament is expected to receive over 3,000,000 views, while it is projected that in excess of 10,000,000 minutes of content will be viewed during the event. The Facebook broadcast will also enable fans of the sport to engage with each other across the globe during the transmission.
Tickets are on sale now. Prices start from $25 for general admission, while VIP packages, which include access to the VIP Lounge or Premium courtside tables, are available starting at $50. Special tournament hotel rates are also available on worldteamsquashdc.com/#aboutus.
For more information on the tournament, follow the event on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or visit www.worldteamsquashdc.com.
