England are World Champs, NZ tenth

England has won the World Women's Team Champs in Canada this morning, with NZ finishing in tenth place.

England has broken Egypt's recent stranglehold on the Women's World Team Championships by winning their seventh world title - and first since 2006 (incidentally, the last time the event was held in Canada).  England defeated surprise finalists Malaysia 2-1 to take the title.

New Zealand was playing off against Wales for ninth position.  Kylie Lindsay was on first for the Kiwis, and looking to get the side away to a strong start.  She looked to be feeling the nerves of occasion at the beginning, with the first set seesawing all the way to extra points.  With ice, and not blood, seemingly running through her veins, Lindsay took control and picked up the opening set 14-12.  The tit-for-tat play continued in the second set, before her Welsh rival Jennifer Haley got on a run of points in the second half of the set to level the match at one all.  Lindsay went back to basics, playing impeccable length to gain control of the rallies and set up attacking opportunities.  The execution of these tactics saw her comfortably win the third, with the fourth set following soon after.  Advantage New Zealand.

Amanda Landers-Murphy, fresh from her upset victory over WR#33 Siyoli Waters yesterday, would need to kill another giant to in Tesni Evans (WR#28) to seal the tie for the Squash Blacks.  Evans, however, had other ideas, and was simply too consistent for the Kiwi.  Landers-Murphy had enjoyed a strong week of results, but was unable to make much of an impact against the Welshwoman, going down in straight sets.

This set up the number twos to decide the tie.  Megan Craig up against WR#60 Deon Saffery.  Unfortunately for the Kiwi, Saffery played the match of her life to chalk up a 3/1 win.  While Craig was able to take the second set, Saffery carried the momentum through most of the match by stringing winners together and opening up sizeable leads in each of the first, third and fourth sets.

The final result saw New Zealand and Wales swap seeding positions.  Coach Paul Hornsby, while disappointed not to have secured ninth place, was optimistic about the future: "We came with a job to do today, and we couldn't quite get it done.  That said, finishing in the top ten in the world is a solid achievement when down our best player.  We'll come back stronger in two years time: Amanda and Megan will have gained a great deal this week playing at one and two for their country.  This exposure and experience will be a massive boost to their young careers, and I can see them both climbing further in the rankings next year".

If you missed the match, you can watch archived footage here.

Results

New Zealand (9) lost to Wales (10)

Kylie Lindsay bt Jennifer Haley 14-12 6-11 11-4 11-7
Amanda Landers-Murphy lost to Tesni Evans 6-11 9-11 5-11
Megan Craig lost to Deon Saffery 3-11 11-5 3-11 8-11

Final finishing position: tenth.

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