Squash Blog - 20th Men's World Team Championship 2005

December 9, 2005 - DAY 2
Today was day that held a great deal of promise. A bit of history first... The best a US Team has done at World Teams is finish 19th.This is the first time the US Team has been made up entirely of players raised in the States. Coming into this event the team felt they had a chance to do something special by not just making the top 16, but making the top 12.

Today was judgement day.

Chris Gordon, making his debut in the World Teams for his country, started us off playing #3 with a gutsy but streaky performance. After spending the last 5 days recoverying from some sort of virus it was his going to be a test of character. He lost the first and didn't really start playing until the middle of the second which he came back from 4-6 down to win 9-7. The third was again a 'push me pull you' affair, with both players going through mental lapses. Chris closed out in the end coming back from 6-8 down to win it 10-8. He then fell apart in the 4th and lost it 9-3. Chris regrouped well and returned to court to win it 9-0.

That put us 1-0. Our next match was between Laurens Angema and Preston Quick. Preston put up a good fight using the lower tin to great effect with some great attacking shots straight and accross his opponents body. He made Laurens earn his win, in a fast paced 50 minute match.

That meant we went to the deciding match - Julian Illingworth against Dylan Bennet. The two have met at least 8 times over their junior and senior careers. Julian reckons Dylan is overall ahead of him 5-3 in matches. Julian started out well with with steady pressure and took the first game 9-1. But as the second began it became clear this was not going to be quite as easy as the first.

Dylan's strategy is was to break up the rhythm and tempo of the game with his wristy style. Julian's is more orthodox centered on good length and positive attacks to the front. So back and forth it went, leaving us behind the back wall with sweaty palms. Dylan took the 2nd and 3rd comfortably. After a steady start by both players in the 4th, Julian got his nose in front and forced the deciding set. Would the US have a chance of a top 12 finish?

Dylan raced ahead to reach 8-3 match ball, but then there were thoughts of Julian in Tepic last year - down 8-3 in the fifth to Argentina, before coming back to win 10-8 and clinch the bronze medal then). However, today the opposition was going to have none of it, and in the end Dylan took the fifth 9-6.

So tomorrow is a new day against the Finnish and the test is going to be to pick ourselves up from this dissapointment and bounce back to try to finish as high as possible, which is now at position 13.

BLOG From Squash Webmaster:

December 9, 2005 - DAY 2
USA Results

[9] NETHERLANDS bt [19/22] USA 2-1
Tom Hoevenaars lost to Christopher Gordon 9-1, 8-10, 4-9, 9-6, 0-9
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Preston Quick 9-5, 9-2, 9-2
Dylan Bennett bt Julian Illingworth 1-9, 9-4, 9-5, 3-9, 9-5

To see more photos click here.

BLOG From Squash Webmaster:

December 9, 2005 - DAY 2

Australia, Netherlands, Finland and the United States are competing in Pool D, with the top two teams advancing to the play-offs. Fourth seed and record eight-time winner Australia should easily advance leaving one spot for the team who wants it the most.

That "want" was displayed in a Netherland-Finland match yesterday, when World No. 28 and Netherlands No. 1 Laurens Jan Anjema beat World No. 14 Olli Tuominen 9-7, 4-9, 9-1, 6-9, 9-3. In the match that followed, Netherlands No. 2 Dylan Bennett took an easy victory over Matias Tuomi, giving Netherlands a 2-1 win over Finland, but more importantly the team advantage in advancing to the play-offs.

Have heart my US squash fans. With Anjema coming off a tough match and Tommy Berden, Netherlands current No. 2 player, not participating due to a ruptured tendon in his right arm, Netherlands are beatable. The US Men's team know they need this victory, they WANT this victory and are ready to fight for every point.

Rounding out the Netherlands team in positions 3 and 4 are Tom Hoevenaars and Marc Reus.

BLOG From Chris Walker:

December 8, 2005 - DAY 1

The US team woke up refreshed and hungry for business today with a tall order, up against the No.4 seeds, Australia.

Beau River stepped on court to hit the first ball of the 2005 US Men's Team Championships against the Aussie No.3 Joe Kneipp. In his first appearance for the USA, Beau tried to settle in to the game but found the pace and control of Kneipp a handful. Kneipp took the first 2 games without dropping a point. With nothing to lose Beau relaxed in the third game, and collected 3 hard earned points before Kneipp closed out.

Second on court was Preston Quick, up against the World No.3 Anthony Rickets. Quick settled quickly into a fast and furious pace. Preston's style of game, with low drives both straight and cross court, was undoubtedly aided by the lower international 17" tin and it frustrated Ricketts. The first game was taken by Ricketts 9-6, Quick's enthusism to attack too early cost him the 2 game quickly but he rallied in the third to lead 7-4 before Ricketts took control again to peg back the points and win the game and match 9-7.

As this was a pool match the final game between Julian Illingworth and Stuart Boswell was played as a full best of 5 as every point counts. However, Boswell's pace and penetration with consistent, relentless volleying to the back of the court proved too much for Julian who failed to gain control of the rallies for long enough to really hurt him physically. From a coaches point of view, it was a great experience for the boys today and also the perfect preparation for the 2 "big" pool matches we have over the next 2 days.

Tomorrow we face the Netherlands and then on Saturday we will have Finland. Both of these are well with in our reach and come Saturday evening we may be thanking Australia for the lesson they gave us today.

BLOG From Squash Webmaster:

December 7, 2005

Tomorrow, at the 20th Men's World Team Squash Championship, United States will take on the fourth seeds, Australia, who have won the past two championships in 2001 and 2003. Australia has a competitive team including; Sydney's world No.3 Anthony Ricketts, Canberra's world No.20 Stewart Boswell, Queensland's world No.24 Joseph Kneipp and New South Welshman's world No.30 Cameron Pilley completes the line-up.

World No.4 David Palmer will not be representing Australia, due to a 13-month World Squash Federation suspension that runs until the end of January, 2006.

Pools

Pool A: 1-England, 12-South Africa, 13-18 Kuwait, 19-22 Austria
Pool B: 2-Egypt, 11-New Zealand, 13-18 Germany, 19-22 Iran
Pool C: 3-France, 10-India, 13-18 Ireland
Pool D: 4-Australia, 9-Netherlands, 13-18 Finland, 19-22 US
Pool E: 5-Canada, 8-Wales, 13/18 Hong Kong
Pool F: 6-Malaysia, 7-Pakistan, 13-18 Scotland, 19-22 Spain.

BLOG From Chris Walker:

December 7, 2005

All the team, except Chris Gordon, arrived safely in Islamabad after a 2 day trip with 2 night flights from JFK via London to Pakistan. Chris Gordon made his own way to the Marriot Hotel, Islamabad, from Hong Kong where he had been competing in the World Open. After being escorted through customs like Rock stars 3/4's of the US team headed for baggage claim to collect their bags. Unfortunately for Chris Walker, the team Coach and the team masseuse, 4 of their bags didn't make it through the connections in London and are still AWOL in the field somewhere some 36 hours after landing!

Despite this set back for coach and masseuse, the team have settled in and will be in pristine shape come their first match tomorrow (Thursday) after revitalising massages and practises on the match courts at the Roshan Khan and Mushaf Squash Complex's in Pakistan's Jinnah Sports Complex.

The team will be straight into the thick of things as their first match, at high noon, will be 4th seeded Australia.

Preston Quick is the No.1 and Captain, supported by Julian Illingworth at 2, Chris Gordon at 3 and Beau River at 4.

Posted by Squash Webmaster.