Gold Medallists Nicol & Grinham Maintain Winning Momentum In Doubles

After a rest day following the singles finals, Commonwealth Games squash action turned to doubles as competition for further sets of medals in the men's, women's and mixed doubles got underway today at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

The two singles gold medallists Peter Nicol and Natalie Grinham maintained their winning ways in all three events. Nicol partnered fellow Englishman Lee Beachill to two victories as they begun the defence of their men's doubles title - taking less than an hour to beat both Nicholas Kyme & James Stout, the 11th seeds from Bermuda, and then Zambians O'Neil Chilambwe & Chiluba Chilufya in qualifying matches in Pool 2.

Australian Natalie Grinham paired up with older sister Rachael Grinham, whom she beat in the women's singles final, to beat English pair Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters 11-9, 9-3, 10-8 in a tough 55-minute opening match in Pool 1 of the women's doubles.

Later, with Joseph Kneipp in the mixed doubles, Natalie despatched Norfolk Islands pair Debby Adams & Gye Duncan 9-2, 9-1, 9-0 in a mere 12 minutes.

England's Alison Waters had perhaps the most demanding schedule on the opening day of doubles action. Rested during the singles - during which the Londoner celebrated her 22nd birthday - Waters spent more than three hours on court competing in four matches!

With Yorkshire's Jenny Duncalf in the women's doubles qualifiers, Waters beat Jamaica's Karen Anderson & Marlene West 9-1, 9-1, 9-3 before losing in just an hour to the Australian favourites Natalie & Rachael Grinham.

In the mixed doubles, Waters teamed up with fellow Londoner Adrian Grant. After enduring a losing five-game 88-minute battle against New Zealand's sixth seeds Lara Petera & Callum O'Brien, Waters and Grant rounded off the day with a 9-6 9-3 9-4 victory over Mauritians Vanessa Florens & Nadeem Hosenbux.

Men's Doubles: 1st qualifying round - Pool 1:
Hartaj Bains & Hardeep Reel (KEN) bt [12] Shawn Badrinath & Maxim Weithers (GUY)
w/o
Pool 2:
[2] Lee Beachill & Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [11] Nicholas Kyme & James Stout (BER)
9-3, 9-7, 9-5 (34m)
O'Neil Chilambwe & Chiluba Chilufya (ZAM) bt Gye Duncan & Duncan Gray (NFI)
9-7, 7-9, 9-6, 4-9, 9-4 (49m)
[2] Lee Beachill & Peter Nicol (ENG) bt O'Neil Chilambwe & Chiluba Chilufya (ZAM)
9-1, 9-7, 9-4 (25m)
[11] Nicholas Kyme & James Stout (BER) bt Gye Duncan & Duncan Gray (NFI)
9-2, 9-3, 9-1 (19m)
Pool 3:
[3] Dan Jenson & David Palmer (AUS) bt [10] Aamir Atlas Khan & Khayal Muhammad Khan (PAK)
9-4, 9-4, 9-4 (35m)
[3] Dan Jenson & David Palmer (AUS) bt Yasir Issadeen & Navin Samarasinghe (SRI)
9-1, 9-1, 9-5 (20m)
Pool 4:
[9] Shawn Delierre & Matthew Giuffre (CAN) bt Joseph Karigithe & Chirag Shah (KEN)
9-3, 10-8, 10-8 (25m)
Pool 5:
[5] Campbell Grayson & Martin Knight (NZL) bt Peter Christian-Bailey & Steve Nobbs (NFI)
9-0, 9-0, 9-0 (12m)
[8] Harry Leitch & John White (SCO) bt Joshua Pinard & Colin Ramasra (TRI)
9-3, 9-3, 9-4 (18m)
Joshua Pinard & Colin Ramasra (TRI) bt Peter Christian-Bailey & Steve Nobbs (NFI)
9-7, 9-5, 9-6 (22m)
Pool 6:
[6] David Evans & Alex Gough (WAL) bt Chikumbutso Mkutumula & Aubrey Taulo (MAW)
9-1, 9-6, 9-6 (21m)
[7] Rodney Durbach & Adrian Hansen (RSA) bt Andrew McGoon & Sonalmeet Nagra (FIJ)
9-2, 9-0, 9-1 (16m)
[6] David Evans & Alex Gough (WAL) bt Andrew McGoon & Sonalmeet Nagra (FIJ)
9-2, 9-1, 9-3 (19m)
[7] Rodney Durbach & Adrian Hansen (RSA) bt Chikumbutso Mkutumula & Aubrey Taulo (MAW)
9-3, 9-2, 9-2 (16m)

Women's Doubles: 1st qualifying round - Pool 1:
[5] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG) bt Karen Anderson & Marlene West (JAM)
9-1, 9-1, 9-3 (24m)
[1] Natalie Grinham & Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG)
11-9, 9-3, 10-8 (55m)
[4] Louise Crome & Lara Petera (NZL) bt Naluge Guy & Eli Webb (PNG)
9-2, 9-4, 9-2 (18m)
Pool 2:
[2] Shelley Kitchen & Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt Nirasha Guruge & Tehani Guruge (SRI)
9-4, 9-4, 9-5 (16m)
[6] Kasey Brown & Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Frania Gillen-Buchert & Louise Philip (SCO)
9-4, 9-4, 9-2 (26m)
[2] Shelley Kitchen & Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt [6] Kasey Brown & Amelia Pittock (AUS)
7-9, 9-7, 2-9, 9-6, 9-6 (81m)
[3] Tania Bailey & Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Nirasha Guruge & Tehani Guruge (SRI)
9-0, 9-4, 9-2 (14m)

Mixed Doubles: 1st qualifying round - Pool 1:
[12] Tenille Swartz & Clinton Leeuw (RSA) bt Nirasha Guruge & Navin Samarasinghe (SRI)
9-3, 5-9, 9-6, 9-0 (28m)
Pool 2:
[2] Shelley Kitchen & Glen Wilson (NZL) bt [11] Runa Reta & Matthew Giuffre (CAN)
9-4, 9-1, 9-7 (32m)
Pool 3:
[3] Natalie Grinham & Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt Debby Adams & Gye Duncan (NFI)
9-2, 9-1, 9-0 (12m)
Pool 4:
[4] Vicky Botwright & James Willstrop (ENG) bt [9] Tegwen Malik & Gavin Jones (WAL)
8-10, 9-2, 10-12, 9-3, 9-6 (81m)
[9] Tegwen Malik & Gavin Jones (WAL) bt Marlene West & Christopher Binnie (JAM)
9-3, 9-1, 9-5 (30m)
Pool 5:
[5] Nicol David & Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Becky Nobbs & Duncan Gray (NFI)
9-0, 9-3, 9-0 (13m)
[8] Diana Argyle & Craig van der Wath (RSA) bt Nicolette Fernandes & Shawn Badrinath (GUY)
w/o
[5] Nicol David & Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [8] Diana Argyle & Craig van der Wath (RSA)
9-7, 12-10, 9-5 (46m)
Becky Nobbs & Duncan Gray (NFI) bt Nicolette Fernandes & Shawn Badrinath (GUY)
w/o
Pool 6
[6] Lara Petera & Callum O'Brien (NZL) bt [7] Alison Waters & Adrian Grant (ENG)
7-9, 10-8, 4-9, 9-3, 9-6 (88m)
[6] Lara Petera & Callum O'Brien (NZL) bt Sharon Chimfwembe & Chiluba Chilufya (ZAM)
9-1, 9-2, 9-1 (13m)
[7] Alison Waters & Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Vanessa Florens & Nadeem Hosenbux (MRI)
9-6, 9-3, 9-4 (18m)