Egypt Seeded To Win Fourth World Team Title
26 May 2013
Defending champions Egypt are seeded to retain the WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship title next month after a projected final meeting with former champions England in what would be a repeat of the 2011 final.
Teams from 31 nations – with representation from all five continents in the top sixteen alone – will contest the biennial championships which will be held in France for the first time in the event’s 46-year history.
The 24th WSF Men’s World Team Championship, hosted by the Fédération Française de Squash, will be held from 9-15 June in Mulhouse, at both the Espace Squash 3000 Centre and the Palais Des Sports – where action will take place on three all-glass showcourts, with stunning presentation assured.
With a squad featuring four players from the PSA world top ten – led by world number one and world champion Ramy Ashour – Egypt are firm favourites to win the title for the third time in a row, and the fourth time since 1999.
However England – led by world No2 Nick Matthew and also including fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop, the world No4 – will be determined to make up for the disappointment of the 2011 defeat in Germany by taking the title for the fifth time since 1995.
Hosts France, runners-up in 2009 and led by world No3 Gregory Gaultier, are the event’s No3 seeds, while record eight-time champions Australia are the fourth seeds.
Botswana and Poland will be making their first appearances in the championship.
The full pool line-up is as follows (with seeding in brackets):
Pool A: [1] EGYPT, [16] SCOTLAND, [17/20] KUWAIT, [29/32] KENYA
Pool B: [2] ENGLAND, [15] CANADA, [17/20] COLOMBIA, [29/32] NAMIBIA
Pool C: [3] FRANCE, [14] PAKISTAN, [17/20] NETHERLANDS, [29/32] RUSSIA
Pool D: [4] AUSTRALIA, [13] MEXICO, [17/20] SWITZERLAND
Pool E: [5] MALAYSIA, [12] NEW ZEALAND, [21/24] BOTSWANA, [25/28] POLAND
Pool F: [6] GERMANY, [11] USA, [21/24] IRELAND, [25/28] CZECH REPUBLIC
Pool G: [7] SOUTH AFRICA, [10] HONG KONG CHINA, [21/24] AUSTRIA, [25/28] JAPAN
Pool H: [8] INDIA, [9] FINLAND, [21/24] ARGENTINA, [25/28] VENEZUELA
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