WSF Men’s World Team Championship: New Zealand Avoid Early Scare to Beat Republic of Korea

The New Zealand Men’s Squash Team has avoided an early scare to win it’s first matchup in the WSF Men’s World Team Championship in Tauranga.

With New Zealand No.1 and World No.3 Paul Coll rested after winning the New Zealand Open on Sunday, it was up to Commonwealth Games athlete and World No.104 Lwamba Chileshe to lead the team against the Republic of Korea.

The 24-year-old made the worst possible start against Dongjun Lee, with the Korean taking the first game 11-8 at the Devoy Centre.

Chileshe levelled with an 11-5 win in game two, but fell behind once more as Lee took game three, with the unranked visitor sensing an upset.

Fortunately for the home crowd, Chileshe was able to steady himself, taking the next two games 11-5, 11-6, with his teammate and brother Temwa Chileshe then sealing the win with a 3-0 victory over Hyeonbeom Kang, before Elijah Thomas added the extras with a win in straight games against Ji Donghyun.

“It was fun at times but quite stressful,” said Lwamba Chileshe.

“Up first, I think that’s why I struggled a bit, I felt under pressure and a bit nervous. But I’m just really happy to get the win for the team.”

New Zealand will meet Wales today before a rest day tomorrow.

Also at the Devoy Centre, Australia and Malaysia came from behind to avoid upsets to the Netherlands and Ireland, respectively.

For Australia - the most successful team in competition history - Rhys Dowling and Dylan Molinaro proved to be the heroes against Thijs Roukens and Sam Gerrits after Joseph White’s defeat to 2022 World Junior Champion Rowan Damming.

For Malaysia, it was Sanjay Jeeva and Ameeshenraj Chandaran to the rescue, with the pair beating Sean Conroy and Oisin Logan after Addeen Idrakie’s defeat to Sam Buckley.

Elsewhere, four teams made their championship debuts.

In the Mercury Baypark Arena, event newcomers Cook Islands and Tahiti went down to Czech Republic and Germany, while in the Devoy Centre, Philippines and Samoa lost out to South Africa and Canada.

Cook Islands’ Brian Tapurau said afterwards: “It feels very good - but a bit of an eye opener.

“It’s cool being out on the world stage with everyone.”

The WSF Men’s World Team Championship resumes today, 12 December, at midday.

Click here to view results and draws for the 2023 WSF Men’s World Team Championship.

The Championship features four athletes from each of the 24 competing nations, with teams going head-to-head in a best of three matches format. The draw includes eight of the top ten male athletes in the world. 

Commonwealth Games Singles & Mixed Doubles Champion Paul Coll headlines the New Zealand team, joined by brothers Temwa and Lwamba Chileshe, as well as young Auckland athlete Elijah Thomas.

About the New Zealand Festival of Squash

The New Zealand festival of Squash will see more than 500 matches played across three major tournaments. The festival is made up of the NZ Squash Open to be contested December 5th – 10th, the Oceania Junior Championships December 5th - 7th and the WSF Men’s World Teams Championships December 11th – 17th. 

With more than 400 athletes competing from across 30 nations, the event is being billed as a fantastic celebration of sport and competition.

Tickets for the 2023 Festival of Squash are on sale with more information available at www.festivalofsquash.co.nz

The Lucino Vanities Men’s NZ Open draw and schedule is available here.

The Barfoot and Thompson Women’s NZ Open draw and schedule is available here.

The nations for the WSF Men’s World Team Championship are available here.