The U.S. Men’s National Team has reached its first World Tea, Championship Quarterfinal since 2011 after defeating hosts New Zealand Thursday, December 14, in Tauranga.
Playing in front of a partial home crowd on the glass show court staged in the Mercury Arena, the U.S. got off to a quick winning start courtesy of Spencer Lovejoy, who dispatched Temwa Chileshe 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 in the No. 3 match up.
The No. 1s followed on with world No. 41 Timmy Brownell pitted against world No. 3 and defending U.S. Open champion Paul Coll. The former world No. 1 leveled the match score 11-6, 11-2, 11-5 to set up a deciding match between the No. 2s Shahjahan Khan and Lwamba Chileshe.
As he did against Czechia in the group stages, Khan provided a winning performance to send Team USA through to the next round, defeating Chileshe 11-4, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7.
“I feel play best under pressure. Playing for the team is different and gets me more motivated,” Khan said afterwards.
The U.S. now has the opportunity to reach its first ever Men’s World Team Championship semifinals when it faces four seeds Switzerland Thursday night at 9pm ET.
Watch the match live on the glass court from the Devoy Squash Center on worldsquash.tv.