Tenille Swartz rounded off her experience at the Women’s World Team Squash Championships with a win over world number 12 Shelley Kitchen, as South Africa lost 2-1 to New Zealand in the playoffs to claim an overall sixth place finish.
Swartz beat Kitchen, a bronze medalist at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, 3-2 in a tough five-setter which lasted 54 minutes.
Diana Argyle won her first set against Jaclyn Hawkes, but lost the next three going down 3-1 in 54 minutes.
Karen vd Westhuizen lost 3-0 to Louise Crome in 35 minutes.
It’s been an incredible run for South Africa in Edmonton, especially for Tenille Swartz, the 19-year-old from Parys, who is yet to make her debut on the WISPA tour.
South Africa went to the championship ranked 12th and instantly made headlines, beating Australia in their opening game.
They then lost to the Netherlands, but bounced back with a win over Germany to advance as surprise quarterfinalists.
South Africa came up against Egypt in the last eight, but South Africa were outplayed, losing 3-0.
Having had to play without veteran Claire Nitch since the clash with Netherlands, South Africa went on to beat France in the playoffs for 5th-8th place.
The loss to New Zealand would have hurt, but in the context of the championship, it was a more than happy end to South Africa’s campaign.
To be ranked 12th out of 16 teams in the world and finish sixth, this achievement is cause for celebration.
England won the title, after beating Egypt 2-0 in the final.
In the battle for third place, Malaysia beat Netherlands, 2-1.
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