The squad list for the 2022 WSF Women’s World Team Squash Championship has been announced, with teams from all over the globe selecting some of the world’s best players to battle it out in Madinaty Sport Club, Cairo, Egypt.
The championship, which will be played 10-16 December and is set to feature 17 teams, is a biennial international tournament which sees four-player squads from each country compete in best-of-three-match clashes.
For hosts and defending champions Egypt, World No.1 Nouran Gohar leads a devastatingly strong team that boasts four of the world’s top six players. The 25-year-old, who won the 2016 and 2018 World Team Championships, is joined by three-time champion and World No.2 Nour El Sherbini, World No.3 and Women’s World Team Championship debutant Hania El Hammamy, and two-time champion and World No.6 Nour El Tayeb.
The USA, who will be hoping to improve on fifth-place finishes in 2018, 2016, and 2014, will travel with what is arguably the strongest ever US Team assembled, with World No.4 Amanda Sobhy, World No.11 Olivia Fiechter, World No.18 – and younger sister to Amanda – Sabrina Sobhy, and World No.20 Olivia Clyne selected.
England, seven-time winners and runners up in the last edition, will go in with confidence after winning the most recent European Team Championships. World No.8 Sarah-Jane Perry leads the team, with World No.9 and 2022 Commonwealth Games singles gold medallist Georgina Kennedy, World No.27 Jasmine Hutton and World No.30 Lucy Turmel completing the lineup.
The France team, which finished joint third in 2016 and 2018, has been boosted by dramatic returns for former World No.2 Camille Serme, who retired from the professional game in June 2022 and former World No.20 Coline Aumard, who retired in the same month, with the duo joining World No.32 Melissa Alves and World No.43 Enora Villard.
Hong Kong, China, winners of this year’s Asian Team Championship, name an unchanged lineup to the team that upset Malaysia earlier this month in Cheongju, with Tomato Ho, Sin Yuk Chan, Ka Yi Lee and Tsz Wing Tong returning to competitive action.
Also appearing at this year’s Women’s World Team Squash Championships are Ukraine and Chinese Taipei, both of whom are making their competition debuts.
Ukraine will be led by Anastasiia Kostiukova, with talented juniors Milena Velychko, Sofiia Zrazhevska, and Anastasiia Krykun joining the squad.
Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, will be represented by Yi-Hsuan Lee, Yuan Wang, Wei-Ting Huang and Yi-Chun Wu.
Here’s how some of the players have reacted to their selection:
Egypt’s Nouran Gohar: “I’m extremely happy to be representing my country, Egypt, at the World Teams event this year, in Egypt. I can’t wait to have all of the Egyptian crowd out cheering for us!”
England’s Georgina Kennedy: “Representing England at the World Team Championships in Egypt is a huge honour for me. It is always a special feeling to wear the England shirt and I am particularly excited because I have never played World Teams before. The England Team have such a good dynamic and I am so excited to see what we can do this year! I feel really lucky to be a part of this team and I can’t wait to get out there and compete for our country!”
Ukraine’s Anastasiia Kostiukova: “It will be the first time our women’s team [has competed] at the World Championship and I’m feeling excited to go for this amazing experience . For me, it’s a great honour to take part in the event and I will do my best to represent my country. I’m very excited to do that!”
The USA’s Amanda Sobhy: “[There’s] no better feeling than representing your country. There are only a few chances every couple of years that I get to play for the US, so to be suiting up in the red, white, and blue alongside my teammates is an amazing feeling. We have a really strong team and have been looking forward to Women’s World Teams for the last 4 years, so we are excited to show the squash world what the US women are capable of!”
Wales’ Tesni Evans: “It always means a lot to play for Wales; I have some really good memories in a Welsh shirt and am always so proud to put on the shirt and give everything for the team! I’m really looking forward to the World Team Champs. It’s always a great event; it’s always fun to play team events and play for your country! So it will be fun and I look forward to seeing how Wales can do!”
Squad lists: 2022 Women’s World Team Championship
Australia
Donna Lobban
Jessica Turnbull
Alexandra Haydon
Sarah Cardwell
Canada
Hollie Naughton
Nicole Bunyan
Nikole Todd
Samantha Cornett
Chinese Taipei
Yi-Hsuan Lee
Yuan Wang
Wei-Ting Huang
Yi-Chun Wu
Egypt
Nouran Gohar
Nour El Sherbini
Hania El Hammamy
Nour El Tayeb
England
Sarah-Jane Perry
Georgina Kennedy
Jasmine Hutton
Lucy Turmel
Finland
Emilia Soini
Emilia Korhonen
Riina Koskinen
Maarit Ekholm-Mangaonkar
France
Mélissa Alves
Camille Serme
Coline Aumard
Énora Villard
Germany
Saskia Beinhard
Sharon Sinclair
Katerina Tycova
Maya Weishar
Hong Kong, China
Tze Lok Ho
Sin Yuk Chan
Ka Yi Lee
Tsz Wing Tong
Japan
Satomi Watanabe
Akari Midorikawa
Risa Sugimoto
Erisa Sano Herring
Malaysia
Aifa Azman
Rachel Arnold
Chan Yiwen
Yee Xin Ying
Scotland
Lisa Aitken
Georgia Adderley
Alison Thomson
Katriona Allen
South Africa
Alexandra Fuller
Lizelle Muller
Cheyna Wood
Hayley Ward
Switzerland
Cindy Merlo
Nadia Pfister
Celine Walser
Ambre Allinckx
Ukraine
Anastasiia Kostiukova
Milena Velychko
Anastasiia Krykun
Daria Vlasenko
USA
Amanda Sobhy
Olivia Fiechter
Sabrina Sobhy
Olivia Clyne
Wales
Tesni Evans
Emily Whitlock
Lowri Roberts
Stacey Gooding
