After the disappointment of losing its pool match to Scotland, which knocked the side out of a semifinal place, it then rattled off wins over Australia, Spain and Germany to finish fifth.
The triumph over Germany in the battle for fifth and sixth started well, as Kiwi No3 Evan Williams, from Wellington, easily dispatched Germany’s Valentin Rapp 11-1, 11-7, 11-8 in 42 minutes, with an efficient display of squash.
Then in a match which was always going to be a battle, Paul Coll, ranked fifth in the world, took on Simon Rosner, the sixth-ranked player.
It took 62 minutes and a lot of ebbs and flows in the match for Coll to come away the winner 6-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3 and win the tie.
For Coll the victory and playing for New Zealand means a lot. It was also the second consecutive time he has gone unbeaten at the championships.
"I actually managed to do it last time in France, as well. I love playing for my country and seem to push to another level," he said.
‘‘I was really pleased to secure the win today. It was a tough match with a few momentum swings in there, but Glen [team coach Wilson] was really good today and he gave me a good game plan to work and we actually changed it halfway through, as it wasn’t working.
‘‘I’m really proud of the whole team and how we finish as it’s really tough on the last day.”
Coll will remain in the northern hemisphere before his next PSA tournament which is in New York at Grand Central Station, and then Chicago.
"We did have a goal of the semis and fell just short of that. It’s never easy to bounce back from a loss. We were all gutted after that loss in pool play. We kept our heads up and had a solid couple of wins in the last few days and had our highest finish in 20 years.”
The victory over Germany meant New Zealand finished one place higher than the world champs two years ago in France.
