India seeded eighth in World team squash

The Indian team, led by national champion Saurav Ghosal, has been seeded eighth in the WSF Men's World Team Squash Championship to be held in Mulhouse, France from June 9 to 15.

Teams from 31 nations, with representation from all five continents in the top 16 alone, will contest the biennial championships which will be held in France for the first time in the event's 46-year history.

The India team, scheduled to leave tonight, also includes Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, Mahesh Mangaonkar and Ramit Tandon while Cyrus Poncha and Gautam Das will accompany the squad as officials.

Defending champions Egypt are favoured to retain the title after a projected final meeting with former champions England in what would be a repeat of the 2011 final.

"The Indian team finished in seventh position in the 2011 event. We are certainly confident of doing better this year. We have a great mix of experience and youth in our squad," said National coach Poncha.

The teams have been divided into eight pools for the preliminary league with India clubbed with Finland, Argentina and Venezuela. India open their campaign with a match against Argentina June 9, followed by Finland (June 10) and Venezuela (June 11).