New Zealand has gotten the better of South Africa in a spirited three match contest at the WSF Men’s World Team Championship in Tauranga.

Playing in the Devoy Squash Centre World No. 3 Paul Coll opened the New Zealanders account in style, making short work of Dewald van Niekerk and only dropping seven points as he cruised to a three-game win in 26 minutes.

Lwamba Chileshe was up next, taking on Jean-Pierre Brits. Lwamba came out firing to win the first two games, before Brits picked himself up and played some aggressive squash to win the next three games and take the match.

New Zealand looked to be in trouble in the final match as Temwa Chileshe met Damian Groenewald. Temwa was comprehensively beaten in the first game 3-11, before rallying to win the next three games comfortably and seal the win for his team.

The New Zealanders will play Canada at midday today, Sunday December 17, at Mercury Arena in their final placing playoff.

Meanwhile Egypt and England will lock horns for the World Team Championship title after comprehensive wins over Switzerland and France, respectively.

In the day’s first semi-final, England blew away European rivals, France, in the two sides’ sixth meeting at this stage of the competition.

In a one-sided opening match, England No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy extended his 100 percent record against his counterpart Victor Crouin.

The second match, between Marwan ElShorbagy and Baptiste Masotti, was a more even affair, with ElShorbagy saving a game ball in a tense 14-12 opening game win before pushing on to victory with an 11-5 win in game two and an 11-7 in game three.

Egypt, too, were in dominant form over first-time semi-finalists Switzerland.

World No.1 Ali Farag, a crucial part of the title-winning sides of 2019 and 2017, put in a vintage performance to give his side the lead, with the 31-year-old taking down Swiss No.1 Nicolas Mueller 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 in 28 minutes.

Mazen Hesham, promoted to No.2 today with World No.4 Mostafa Asal rested, then came through a competitive battle with Dimitri Steinmann, with the mercurial World No.7 clinching three tight games 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 to send his team through with no need for a third match.

“It feels amazing – on paper we were pretty confident but anything can happen, and they’ve got very tough players and you can always be nervous in a semi-final," says Egypt's Hesham Al Attar after the tie.

“We’re just happy to have gone through and hope to do well. It should be a good matchup tomorrow [Sunday].”

The final of the WSF Men’s World Team Championship take place today, Sunday, December 17, at 3pm.

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.

World No. 3 Paul Coll headlines the New Zealand team, joined by brothers Temwa and Lwamba Chileshe, and young Auckland athlete Elijah Thomas.

New Zealand Festival of Squash

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

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

2023 Festival of Squash 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.

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Squash New Zealand Poipātū Aotearoa

Squash New Zealand Poipātū Aotearoa is the national governing body for squash in New Zealand.

Squash has a proud history in New Zealand and it is estimated that more than 90,000 people in New Zealand play or try squash each year, in more than 300 clubs and other facilities with squash courts around the country.

"At the heart of everything we do together is our unrelenting drive to get more people on court more often, to succeed on the world stage and to help squash communities thrive," says a Squash New Zealand spokesperson.