Australia finish 12th at Men's World Team Championship

Australia have finished 12th at the 2023 WSF Men's World Team Championships.

Having finished second in their pool, Australia qualified for the round of 16 before falling to Switzerland.

Victory over hosts New Zealand assured them of a finish in the top half of the 24-nation tournament before going down to Hong Kong, China and Malaysia on the final weekend.

Day 7 - Sunday 17 December 9am AEDT
11th place playoff: AUSTRALIA v MALAYSIA

Sanjay Jeeva d Dylan Molinaro 3-1 (11-2, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7)
Addeen Idrakie d Rhys Dowling 3-1 (5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9)

Dylan Molinaro and Rhys Dowling both had their chances on the final day of competition at the Men's World Team Championship however Malaysia ended up proving too strong in the 11th-place playoff.

After dropping the first game in quick time, Molinaro hit back to square the match but Sanjay Jeeva was ultimately too strong, winning 3-1.

Dowling started his attempt to square the tie in good form, taking the opening game from the World #65.

However the 2023 Costa North Coast Open winner gained the ascendency in the crucial moments to win the next three games and claim the tie.

Day 6 - Saturday 16 December
9th-12th: HONG KONG, CHINA d AUSTRALIA 2-0

Tsz Kwan Lau 🇭🇰 d Joseph White 🇦🇺 3-1 (7-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-0 Retired)
Henry Leung 🇭🇰 d Dylan Molinaro 🇦🇺 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-4)

Australia will play Malaysia in the 11th-12th playoff in the final day of the Men's World Team Championship after falling to Hong Kong, China on Saturday.

Joe White took the first game before his opponent took the ascendency on the first match of the tie.

After the Australian tweaked a leg muscle, the decision was made to retire after the third game giving Hong Kong an early lead.

Dylan Molinaro stepped out against a world top 50 player in his match and showed the resilience he's exhibited all week on national debut, but was ultimately outclassed with Hong Kong, China taking the tie 2-0.

Day 5 - Friday 15 December
9th-16th: AUSTRALIA d NEW ZEALAND 2-1

Paul Coll d Joseph White 3-0 (11-3, 11-1, 11-3)
Dylan Molinaro d Elijah Thomas 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-8)
Rhys Dowling d Lwamba Chileshe 3-2 (11-4, 11-9, 14-16, 8-11, 12-10)

LIVE STREAM https://olympics.com/en/sport-events/2023-wsf-squash-men-s-world-team-championship-tauranga
📊 DRAW/RESULTS https://wsf.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=7297CC78-3375-4685-AF19-D6E097491389&draw=3

Day 4 - Thursday 14 December
Rd of 16: SWITZERLAND d AUSTRALIA 2-0

Yannick Wilhelmi d Dylan Molinaro 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-5)
Nicolas Mueller d Joseph White 3-0 (11-7, 11-2, 11-6)

Australia are into the 9th-16th playoffs after falling to Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Dylan Molinaro put in a strong effort against world #66 Yannick Wilhelmi but the Swiss was too strong, winning in three games.

Joseph White then took on Nicolas Mueller who he pushed hard in the first and third games in particular, however the top 20 player triumphed.

Day 2 - Tuesday 12 December
Group C: FRANCE d AUSTRALIA 3-0
Gregoire Marche  d Nick Calvert  3-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-4)
Baptiste Masotti  d Joseph White   3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-5)
Auguste Dussourd  d Dylan Molinaro   3-0 (11-2, 11-1, 11-6)

Australia faced a formidable task on day three of the WSF Men's World Team Championship, coming up against a French side seeded at number three for the tournament.

Coming up against opponents all entrenched in the world's top 30 players, it was always going to be a tough ask for the Australians who showed grit throughout their performanced.

Gregoire Marche stormed out of the blocks against Nick Calvert to dominate the first game, and while the Queenslanders was more competitve in the next two games he could not overcome the world #28.

The next match saw the two nations' number one ranked players go head-to-head. In a match that seemed more even than the scoreboard showed, world #14 Batiste Masotti outlasted the Northern Territorian 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.

The hero of day one Dylan Molinaro faced arguably the biggest test of his career Auguste Dussourd, ranked 26th in the world with 13 professional titles to his credit. Molinaro was only able to win three points in the first two games, and was more competitve in the third but was ultimately outclassed.

Australia await the result of tomorrow's match between France and Netherlands to determine the final finishing place in their pool. 

Day 1 - Monday 11 December
Group C: AUSTRALIA d NETHERLANDS 2-1
Rowan Damming  d Joseph White  3-0 (13-11, 11-5, 11-4)
Rhys Dowling  v Thijs Roukens  3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 12-10)
Dylan Molinaro  v Samuel Gerrits  3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8)

Australia kicked off their campaign in dramatic fashion with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the Netherlands.

2022 World Junior Champion Rowan Damming got the Dutch on the board first, winning an arm wrestle in the opening game against Joseph White before asserting his ascendency on the clash.

Rhys Dowling squared the tie against Thijs Roukens with a three-game win, doing well to seal the match in the third.

Then is was down to Australian debutant Dylan Molinaro against Samuel Gerrits, a strong player who took eventual champion Mohammad Khan to four games before being eliminated from the World Junior Championships.

The Victorian won the first game 11-9 before the Dutchman matched the result in the second. Molinaro won the third by two points and outlasted his opponent in the fourth with a deft drop shot capping a memorable win.