NZ too strong for Germany

The Squash Blacks have proved too strong for Germany in 9th-16th playoffs at the World Women's Team Championships this morning.

Germany opted to rest their number one player Sina Wall, making victory a high expectation for New Zealand.

Megan Craig got the ball rolling, up against world number 155 Annika Wiese.  Craig was at times scratchy in the opening set.  After making a solid start and establishing an early lead, the Marlburian seemed to tail off and let her southpaw opponent back into the game.  Wiese needed no second invitation, and threw some delightful strokeplay of her own into the mix, and Craig soon found herself having to defend game balls.  This seemed to have a galvanising effect on her, with an immediate lift in intensity evident.  After scraping the first game, Craig seemed to go from strength to strength as the match wore on, and proved particularly adept at finding perfect lengths with a very hot and bouncy ball.  The final result: a 14-12 11-6 11-3 victory.

Amanda Landers-Murphy found herself up against Franziska Hennes.  Ranked 43 in the world to Hennes' 129, Landers-Murphy made the gulf in class evident from the beginning of the match, controlling the pace and tempo of the game by cutting off volleys from the tee.  As Hennes was forced to retrieve ball after ball from the four extremities of the court, Landers-Murphy became ever more comfortable despatching the inevitable loose returns.  Another clinical performance gave Amanda an 11-7 11-6 11-3 win, sealing the tie for New Zealand.

Kylie Lindsay stepped on court to play the best-of-three dead rubber against Nicole Fries.  With victory for the Kiwis already assured, and up against an opponent with no WSA world tour ranking or history, Lindsay could have been excused for a lethargic start.  This was not the case, with another purposeful performance sealing a whitewash for the New Zealand team.

The win guarantees New Zealand a finishing position of no lower than 12th.  They will now play the winner of a tie between South Africa and Mexico at midday on Saturday (NZT).  The tie will be streamed live.

Results

New Zealand (9) bt Germany (13-16)

Amanda Landers-Murphy bt Franziska Hennes 11-7 11-6 11-3
Megan Craig bt Annika Wiese 14-12 11-6 11-3
Kylie Lindsay bt Nicole Fries 11-7 11-5

Further results: http://wwt2014squash.com/draws/