King Crowned Double Doubles World Champion In
Darwin
Success in two of today's finals in the WSF World Doubles Squash
Championships in Australia has led New Zealand's Joelle King to
become the first player to win two gold medals in the same
championships since 2004.
The climax of the World Squash Federation event took place at the
Darwin Squash Centre in Darwin, where King went into both finals in
a third-seeded pairing against the events' No.2 seeds.
Partnering Amanda Landers-Murphy in the Women's Doubles final, world
No.9 King, from Cambridge on North Island, beat home hopes Rachael
Grinham & Donna Urquhart 11-7, 11-4. It was Grinham who, 12 years
ago, won gold in both the Mixed and Women's finals in India.
Indian pair Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal were King and
Paul Coll's opponents in the Mixed Doubles final. The Kiwis rose to
the occasion in fine style, despatching the higher-seeded duo 11-8,
11-8 to give double gold to New Zealand.
"We thought we were in with a chance," said King after both
triumphs. "I don't think we knew we could win two golds - but it's
pretty good to take them back to New Zealand!"
Second seeds Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban faltered in an earlier
qualifying round of the Men's Doubles when they went down to the
third-seeded New Zealand pair.
But there was no stopping the Scots in the final where they dashed
Australian hopes of a championship gold medal by beating the
fourth-seeded pair David Palmer & Zac Alexander 11-8, 11-4.
Final:
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-7, 11-4
Semi-finals:
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt
[1] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) 11-5, 11-10
(29m)
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt
[4] Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold (MAS) 11-5, 11-3 (16m)
2nd qualifying round:
Pool A
[4] Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt
[5] Sarah Cardwell & Christine Nunn (AUS) 11-10, 11-8
[1] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) bt
[8] Aika Azman & Teh Min Jie (MAS) 11-5, 11-5
Pool B
[7] Tesni Evans & Jenny Haley (WAL) bt
[6] Catalina Pelaez & Laura Tovar (COL) 11-3, 11-6 (17m)
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-7, 11-8 (24m)
1st qualifying round:
Pool A
[1] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) bt
[4] Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold (MAS) 11-7, 11-10 (20m)
[5] Sarah Cardwell & Christine Nunn (AUS) bt
[8] Aika Azman & Teh Min Jie (MAS) 11-8, 8-11, 11-10 (39m)
[4] Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt
[8] Aika Azman & Teh Min Jie (MAS) 11-8, 11-4 (14m)
[1] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) bt
[5] Sarah Cardwell & Christine Nunn (AUS) 11-8, 11-8
Pool B
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt
[7] Tesni Evans & Jenny Haley (WAL) 11-4, 11-7
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt
[6] Catalina Pelaez & Laura Tovar (COL) 11-8, 11-9 (17m)
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt
[7] Tesni Evans & Jenny Haley (WAL) 11-5, 11-8 (19m)
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt
[6] Catalina Pelaez & Laura Tovar (COL) 10-11, 11-3, 11-4 (29m)
Hosts Australia Seeded For Double Gold In Darwin
World Doubles
Hosts Australia are predicted to take gold in two of the three
events in the 2016 WSF World Doubles Squash Championships in Darwin
next month according to the seedings announced today by the World
Squash Federation - while Queenslander Rachael Grinham is expected
to become the first player in the sport's history to win gold in
three successive championships.
The championships, featuring Men's, Women's and Mixed events, will
take place at the Darwin Squash Centre in the Northern Territory
capital city from 15-18 August.
Grinham, the 39-year-old former world number one, will partner
Cameron Pilley, the world No.14 from New South Wales, in the Mixed
Doubles. Winner of the World Mixed title in 2004 in India in 2004
with David Palmer, and the 2006 gold medal on home soil in Melbourne
in 2006 partnering Joseph Kneipp, Grinham is also the reigning
Commonwealth Games Mixed Doubles champion after claiming the 2014
title in Scotland, again with Palmer.
Pilley also struck gold in Glasgow in the Men's Doubles - with
Palmer - and reached the 2006 World Mixed final (with Amelia Pittock)
where he lost out to his 2016 partner Grinham.
Pilley is bidding for a Darwin double as top seed in the Men's
Doubles, with left-hander Ryan Cuskelly. Also a New South Welshman,
Cuskelly is ranked 16 in the world.
Grinham is seeded to reach the Women's Doubles final, with
Brisbane-based world No.21 Donna Urquhart - but it is the Indian
pairing Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal who are firm favourites
for gold after becoming the Commonwealth Games champions in 2014
against the odds.
Both sharing India's highest-ever world ranking of 10, Chinappa &
Pallikal would become India's first ever world squash champions.
Colombia will be making their World Doubles debut. Following their
Pan American Games Men's Doubles title success last year in Canada,
Andrés Herrera & Juan Camilo Vargas will be appearing in the Darwin
championship for the first time, where they are the fifth seeds.
Compatriot Miguel Angel Rodriguez, the world No.5 renowned for his
spectacular diving around the court, will be bidding to cause an
upset in the Mixed championship, where he and partner Catalina
Pelaez are the No.6 seeds.
2014 Commonwealth Games stars Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban, the local
pair who thrilled the crowds by making the bronze medal play-off in
Glasgow, lead the Scottish bid for success where they are second
seeds in the Men's Doubles.
But the Scots may well have to overcome third-seeded New Zealand
pairing Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson to make the Men's final.
Early action in the three championships will take place in pools,
before reaching the semi-finals on Wednesday 17 August and the
finals the following day.
Pool line-ups (seeding in brackets)
Men's Doubles, Pool A:
[1] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[4] Rex Hedrick & David Palmer (AUS)
[5] Andrés Herrera & Juan Camilo Vargas (COL)
[8] Ivan Yuen & Sanjay Singh Chal (MAS)
[9] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu & Ramit Tandon (IND)
Pool B:
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO)
[3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL)
[6] Nafiizwan Adnan & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS)
[7] Peter Creed & Joel Makin (WAL)
[10] Douglas Kempsell & Kevin Moran (SCO)
Women's Doubles, Pool A:
[1] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal (IND)
[4] Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold (MAS)
[5] Sarah Cardwell & Christine Nunn (AUS)
[8] Aika Azman & Teh Min Jie (MAS)
Pool B:
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS)
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)
[6] Catalina Pelaez & Laura Tovar (COL)
[7] Tesni Evans & Jenny Haley (WAL)
Mixed Doubles, Pool A:
[1] Rachael Grinham & Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[4] Donna Urquhart & David Palmer (AUS)
[5] Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND)
[8] Amanda Landers-Murphy & Campbell Grayson (NZL)
[9] Delia Arnold & Sanjay Singh Chal (MAS)
Pool B:
[2] Dipika Pallikal & Saurav Ghosal (IND)
[3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL)
[6] Catalina Pelaez & Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[7] Tesni Evans & Peter Creed (WAL)
[10] Rachel Arnold & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS)
[11] Jenny Haley & Joel Makin (WAL)
