Nations Cup starts tomorrow in New Zealand with innovative format on trial

The inaugural Nations Cup begins tomorrow in Tauranga, New Zealand, with eight teams battling out in a brand new competition that includes a best-of-seven games scoring format, with each game being first to seven points.

Australia competes in group A against New Zealand, Scotland and Canada, while England, Europe, United States and New Zealand 'B' make up group B in the initial round-robin stage.

The teams are mixed, with Australian national champions Jessica Turnbull and Rex Hedrick taking to the court against some of the protagonists of the recent Australian Open, including women's tournament winner Nele Gilis and men's runner-up Greg Lobban.

"I think most athletes are willing to try something new, if that means potentially getting more exposure for our wonderful sport," Turnbull commented on the new format.

"I don't have a lot of expectations, I am just looking forward to something different. Especially with the power plays, it's going to be cool having to figure out a strategy. I hope everyone's excited and we'll see what happens!"

The Nations Cup will feature an innovative 'powerplay' that players can choose to use twice per match, with the opportunity to take two points if they win the rally. A sudden-death point will also be used if players are locked at 6 all to assign the game.

"I think it’s important to trial and test new formats to get feedback on what the viewers and spectators want to see, as they are what makes professional sport viable in the long term," Rex Hedrick recently told psaworldtour.com.

"I think it’s a cool idea and I’m looking forward to seeing what playing a different format looks and feels like on court," he said. 

Australia's National Coach Stewart Boswell also anticipates the new format will prove to be entertaining for the fans.

"It's going to be exciting as we've never seen anything like this before," he said. "There have been a few conversations around the power plays and when to use them. It's going to be a bit of a trial-and-error at the beginning, but hopefully that's going to be exciting for the people watching.

"For Jess and Rex it's obviously a great opportunity to represent Australia and compete against the other top nations. You always want to win every time you step on the court and I know that's their mindset, so they'll do their best and hopefully pull a couple of upsets," Boswell said.

Group stage action will begin on Thursday November 3 at 11am AEDT, with Australia facing New Zealand at 4pm AEDT. Finals are being played on Saturday and Sunday.

The Nations Cup will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV, with all the details about the event available on the official tournament website.