Eight-time Commonwealth Games medallist Joelle King has withdrawn from The Barfoot and Thompson Women’s NZ Open, due to injury.

Joelle, who won the NZ Open in 2022, has been struggling with a back injury for the last six weeks and says she needs more time to recover.

“I’m absolutely gutted, the NZ Open is one of the highlights of my year,” says Joelle.

“I really wanted to be able to play in front of this home crowd but unfortunately my body just isn’t up to it right now.”

The NZ Open is being played as part of the NZ Festival of Squash and begins on December 5.

Joelle says she’ll still be in attendance, cheering on her teammates and friends, and potentially doing some guest commentary.

“The whole festival of squash is such a great event, so I’ll be spending as much time as possible down at the courts. I do really wish I was playing but it will be nice to watch and just be able to soak up what’s going to be a great atmosphere.”

Joelle will be at Tauranga Intermediate School on Monday morning from 10-11am as part of an athlete school visit.

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 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 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.