Halifax coach Campion leads England at World Team Squash Championships in USA

David, who lives in Stainland, was the head coach at Queens Sports club for many years and remains active at the club. His wife Sarah is a former top professional and the current head squash pro at Queens.

The men’s World Team Championships saw 23 nations compete for the coveted title of world team champions. Egypt were the defending champions, and England the second best squash nation in the world going into the tournament, which they had previously won five times.

Their last tournament win was when they beat Egypt in 2013 under the guidance of Campion.

England were seeded number two and after topping their group in Pool B, beat fourth seeds New Zealand in the quarter finals 2-1 and third seeds France in the semi finals 2-1. In the final, they lost to top seeds Egypt 2-0. The England team was Adrian Walller, James Willstrop, Daryl Selby and Declan James.

“In the semi final I selected Declan James ahead of Daryl Selby which proved crucial as Declan won the deciding tie 3-0 against the French number three,” says Campion.

“These guys are all world class players. The Egyptian team have three world champions in their team. Their number one Tarek Momen is the current World Champion. The other two, Karim Gawad and Ali Farag, are both fomer world champions and world number one.

“The French squad had Gregory Gaultier, former world number one and world champion. We had James Willstrop, the former world number one. It was a truly world class field of players.”

As a coach, Campion has won five world titles with various England teams at junior and senior level and won a world team title with England as a player. He has also been to three Commonwealth Games with England.

David said: “It was a great finish to a successful week for us. The players stepped up all week, and to do it under this kind of pressure is impressive.

“We set out to challenge a formidable Egyptian team, and we certainly made them work very hard for it.

“Declan came ever so close to putting us one up. So much of it at this level is about belief which is born out of performances like they have had here.

“We have a wonderful spirit in the England team, everybody fights for each other. Hopefully those younger players coming up behind can continue the legacy that has been laid down by these legendary players of the English game.”