Nations Cup international squash teams confirmed for Tauranga next month

The eight teams have been confirmed for the inaugural Nations Cup squash tournament to be held in Tauranga early next month including some of the world’s best players.

The event has also confirmed a new title sponsor with the event now known as the Carrus Nations Cup

The tournament will be led by New Zealand’s Paul Coll who is the current Commonwealth Games singles and mixed gold medal winner and in a battle at the top of the world rankings alongside Joelle King the world No 5 and doubles and mixed gold winning in Birmingham.

England features squash legends, Mohamed El Shorbagy (formerly Egypt) and Sarah-Jane Perry as two of the leading title contenders. ElShorbagy is regarded as a great of the game while Perry has had dramatic battles with King in the last two Commonwealth Games and is ranked in the top ten.

There are other strong combinations such as Canada’s Hollie Naughton with entry rankings of 20 and David Baillargeon 69 along with Scotland’s experienced duo of Greg Lobban ranked 35 and Lisa Aitken (31st). The United States has Olivia Clyne at 22nd and Timothy Brownell 67th.

The European team features Belgium’s Nele Gilis at 12 in the world alongside Frenchman, Sebastien Bonmalais 37th while Australia have a team of Jessica Turnball at 74th Rex Hedrick 89th.

The New Zealand Wildcards side contains two members of the Commonwealth Games team, Lwamba Chileshe and Kaitlyn Watts ranked at 90 and 95 respectively.

The Carrus Nations Cup will see New Zealand as the testing ground for a major initiative for squash with the launch of the SquashFORWARD Series, a sequence of new squash events intended to trial innovative changes to the way the sport is delivered.

Each game will be first to seven points. If the game scores are locked at 6-6, a sudden-death point will be played, with the winner of that rally taking the game. Each player can opt for a ‘Power Play’ twice per match where he or she can win two points.

The Carrus Nations Cup will be held on the start-of-the-art glass court 3-6 November at the Trustpower Arena, Tauranga, followed by the PSA silver New Zealand Open 8-13 November at the same venue.

Find out everything you need to know about the NZ Festival of Squash here:

Festival of Squash | The Biggest Squash Tournaments Return to NZ