Team USA matched its best finish of sixth place at the biennial WSF Men’s World Team Championship, December 17, in Taraunga, New Zealand.
The U.S. men entered the first Men’s World Team Championship since 2019 as the tournament’s five seeds and topped group E with wins over Czechia and the Cook Islands.
The U.S. then made secured a place in the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win over New Zealand courtesy of wins from Spencer Lovejoy and Shahjahan Khan.
The U.S. met four seeds Switzerland in the last eight and narrowly missed out on reaching the semifinals as world No. 18 Nicolas Mueller edged Timmy Brownell 11-9 in the fifth game in the decisive win to send the Swiss into its first ever semifinal.
The U.S. had mixed fortunes in the 5-8 playoffs as the team defeated Scotland 2-1, but then fell short in the 5th place playoff with a close 2-1 loss against seven seeds Wales.
The result matches Team USA’s previous best finish of sixth place achieved in Paderborn, Germany in 2011, and an improvement of seven places from a thirteenth place finish in 2019.
“We experienced some extreme highs and lows this week, but overall I’m proud of the effort that the team showed throughout the tournament,” said Ong Beng Hee, the Ganek Family US Squash Head National Coach. “We were close to some historic results so it’s hard not to feel some disappointment, but the experience will serve this young team well in two years time. We couldn’t thank New Zealand enough for being wonderful hosts.”
“I’m very proud of the men’s performance, they are cohesive as a team, support each other and came quite close to a real breakthrough,” said Kevin Klipstein, US Squash President & CEO. “They have all worked extremely hard and that strong foundation remains in place as we look to the 2024 World Championships.”
Elsewhere in the tournament, top seeded Egypt won its third consecutive title against two seeds England as Mostafa Asal and Ali Farag defeated Marwan and Mohamed ElShorbagy in the final, respectively.
For more tournament coverage visit wsfmensteams.com.