KEY POINTS:
The third-seeded New Zealand team recorded two comfortable wins on the opening day of the women's world teams squash championships in Cairo, Egypt, today.
The New Zealanders accounted for No 11 seeds United States 2-1 in their first round of pool play, with world No 12 Shelley Kitchen losing to No 3 Natalie Grainger 7-11 6-11 13-15 in a shade under 30 minutes.
However, Jaclyn Hawkes beat Olivia Blatchford 11-5 11-4 11-8 and Louise Crome accounted for Hope Prockop 11-7 11-3 11-4 to secure the win.
The New Zealanders also won their second match of the day, defeating Italy 3-0. Kitchen beat Manuela Manetta 11-2 11-8 11-5, Hawkes notched up a 13-11 11-4 11-4 win over Sonia Pasteris, and Crome took just 18 minutes to down Veronica Favero 11-4 11-2 11-2.
The New Zealand team finished fifth at the last world championships two years ago, and go into this year's event with high hopes of toppling either defending champions England or No 2 seeds Egypt.
But first they have to survive pool play, which includes matches against sixth seeds Ireland and China tomorrow (NZT) before the quarterfinals begin on Thursday.
- NZPA
