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Sports correspondent & historian with |
Hands up those Western Bay of Plenty sports fans that know a world championship is taking place in Tauranga City this week.
Twenty four countries have converged on Tauranga for the WSF (World Squash Federation) Men's World Teams Squash Championship.
The tournament will be played at the Baypark Arena and the Devoy Squash & Fitness Centre in Tauranga, December 11-17.
Believe me, this is a big event in the realms of world squash with around 100 of the best men's squash players in the world competing in four man teams.
Squash New Zealand says on their website “Most of the top ten male players in the world will be competing so there will be a really high level of aggressive squash on display”.
The website piece goes on to say “We’re expecting fantastic competition, featuring the best men's players in the world, and we are really looking forward to bringing this prestigious event back to New Zealand for the first time since 1983”.
Tauranga is regarded as the hotbed of squash competition in the country, due in no small part to the encouragement and support from world squash legend Dame Susan Devoy.
Susan Devoy was destined to play squash as the youngest and only daughter of Tui and John Devoy, from Rotorua, who played the game during the 1950s and 1960s.
She won her first world title in 1984 at the age of only 21, and would win three more in her career (at this time World Squash Opens were only contested every second year).
She would also win eight British Opens and add a vast collection of other Open titles from around the globe to her trophy cabinet.
The magnitude of her worldwide achievements can be shown that in the year of her retirement in 1992, she was the Australian, British, French, Honk Kong, Irish, New Zealand, Scottish, Swedish and World Squash champion.
Critical to the draw of the WSF Men's World Teams Championship were the seedings announcement. As anticipated, world squash powerhouse Egypt were announced as the top seeds. They are competing in Pool A alongside Malaysia and Ireland.
Seeded second to Egypt, are five-time champions England who will go into initial battle with South Africa and debutants the Philippines. Third seeds France are drawn alongside Australia and the Netherlands, with fourth seeds Switzerland meeting Nigeria and Japan.
The other nations that have travelled to the Western Bay of Plenty for the World event; are USA, Czechia, Cook Islands, Wales, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Scotland, Canada, Samoa, Honk Kong, Germany and Tahiti.
The glass courts at both the Baypark Arena and the Devoy Squash Centre, provides 360 degrees of squash action with the fans seemingly getting to within touching distance of the action.
For those that can't get courtside, the event is being shown on Sky Sport Television and livestreamed on World Squash TV.
