ISLAMABAD, Oct 23 (APP): A total of eight teams would battle for supremacy at the inaugural Nations Cup from November 3 to 6, at Tauranga, New Zealand.
Held at the Trustpower Arena, the Nations Cup was the first iteration of the new “SquashFORWARD” series which has been created in order to trial changes to the traditional competition and scoring formats used at official tournaments, including those on the PSA Tour, said a press release.
Men’s World No.2 Paul Coll and Women’s World No.5 Joelle King, both Commonwealth Games gold medallists in the summer – would make their first competitive appearances on home soil in over five years. Seeded second is England, who would be represented by former Men’s World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy and Women’s World No.8 Sarah-Jane Perry.
The No.3 seeds are Team Europe – represented by Men’s World No.34 Sebastien Bonmalais and Women’s World No.13 Nele Gilis – while Scotland is seeded fourth and will see men’s and women’s World No.29s Greg Lobban and Lisa Aitken feature.
Other nations to take part are Canada (David Baillargeon and Hollie Naughton), the United States (Timothy Brownell & Olivia Clyne), Australia (Jessica Turnbull and Rex Hedrick) and the New Zealand ‘B’ team (Lwamba Chileshe and Kaitlyn Watts).
The eight teams would be split into two groups of four, with the top teams from each group meeting in the final. The second-place teams from each group will contest the third-place playoff.
A fixture would feature a men’s and a women’s match with the overall team score to be determined in the following order: (1) the number of matches won; (2) the number of games won; (3) the number of points won.
The Nations Cup would use a best-of-seven games scoring format throughout the event. Each game would be first to seven points. If the game scores are locked at 6-6, a sudden-death point will be played, with the winner of that rally taking the game. Each player can opt for a ‘Power Play’ twice per match where he or she can win two points.
Group A includes New Zealand, Scotland, Canada and Australia, while England, Europe, the United States and New Zealand ‘B’ would make up Group B.
Group stage matches would take place from November 3 to 5 while the third-place playoff would be held on November 6.
2022 Nations Cup: Teams- New Zealand: Paul Coll & Joelle King; England: Mohamed ElShorbagy & Sarah-Jane Perry; Europe: Sebastien Bonmalais & Nele Gilis; Scotland: Greg Lobban & Lisa Aitken; Canada: David Baillargeon & Hollie Naughton; United States: Timothy Brownell & Olivia Clyne; Australia: Rex Hedrick & Jessica Turnbull; New Zealand ‘B’: Lwamba Chileshe & Kaitlyn Watts.
