Squash Blacks thump China

A convincing win for the women's Squash Blacks over China at the World Championships in Canada this morning.

Ninth seeded New Zealand picked up its first win of the 2014 Women's World Championships in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada, comfortably beating 17-20 seeds China 3/0.

The win gets New Zealand on the board after suffering a 0/3 defeat at the hands of top seeds Egypt yesterday.

Megan Craig once again got things underway for the Squash Blacks, lining up against Gu Jin Yue.  Craig was clinical in a 15 minute 11-4 11-5 11-2 victory.

Amanda Landers-Murphy had a closer match at number one string, requiring 27 minutes and a second set tiebreaker to subdue Li Dong Jin 11-7 12-10 11-7.

Rebecca Barnett, in her run-on debut for the senior national team, won the dead rubber against Duan Siyu 11-2 11-2 11-4 in 19 minutes to ensure a convincing victory for the Squash Blacks.  Barnett was playing in place of Kylie Lindsay, who was rested.

The win, while straightforward on paper, was of comfort to coach Paul Hornsby.  "With none of the Chinese players holding WSA world tour rankings, it was hard to know what to expect.  Fortunately we were able to see their players in action in their first round match against Ireland yesterday, but we knew not to underestimate them.  The unpredictability a team like that can bring has the potential to be a real banana skin.  Happy to get the win, and now we will prepare for a big day tomorrow".

Tomorrow looms as a busy and important day for the Kiwi team.  They have two round-robin matches, which will be incredibly important in deciding final placings in Pool A.  First up are eighth seeds Ireland (5am NZT), followed by 13-16 seeds Colombia at midday NZT.  Both ties will be livestreamed here.

Results

Pool A: New Zealand bt China 3/0

Amanda Landers-Murphy bt Li Dong Jin 11-7 12-10 11-7
Megan Craig bt Gu Jin Yue 11-5 11-4 11-2
Rebecca Barnett bt Duan Siya 11-2 11-2 11-4

Full results available: http://wwt2014squash.com/today-day2/.