Seeds Untroubled On Second Day Of Doubles Action In Melbourne

It took between 13 and 131 minutes to resolve the matches in today's second day of squash doubles qualifying action in the Commonwealth Games as all the leading seeded pairings progressed untroubled at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Australia.

Irish pair Madeline Perry & Steve Richardson claimed the swiftest win of the day, beating Norfolk Islands' Debby Adams & Gye Duncan 9-4, 9-3, 9-2 in just 13 minutes in the mixed doubles - only hours after losing out to Australians Natalie Grinham & Joseph Kneipp, the third seeds, 9-4, 12-10, 9-6 in 38 minutes.

But it took well over two hours to settle the women's doubles clash between New Zealand's fourth seeds Louise Crome & Lara Petera and the fifth seeds from England Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters - both pairs desperate to finish in the top two of Pool 1 in order to qualify for the semi-finals. It was a protracted 'nip and tuck' affair which eventually went to the higher-seeded Kiwis 9-4, 8-10, 9-7, 7-9, 10-8 in 131 minutes.

Waters, who took part in four qualifying matches 24 hours earlier, went on to partner Duncalf to a 20-minute victory over Papua New Guinea pair Naluge Guy & Eli Webb, then teamed up with Adrian Grant to beat Zambia's Sharon Chimfwembe & Chiluba Chilufya 9-6, 9-5, 9-3 in their final mixed pairs qualifying match.

The top two seeds in the men's doubles event clinched their places in Friday's last sixteen play-offs in contrasting styles. Following the withdrawal of Guyana's Shawn Badrinath & Maxim Weithers, the Australian favourites Stewart Boswell & Anthony Ricketts played just one match to qualify as Pool 1 winners, beating unseeded Kenyans Hartaj Bains & Hardeep Reel 9-4, 9-0, 9-7 in 19 minutes.

England's second seeds Lee Beachill & Peter Nicol, however, clinched their third victory to make sure of finishing at the top of the Pool 2 table. Their 9-6, 9-5, 9-2 win over Norfolk Islanders Gye Duncan & Duncan Gray in 16 minutes takes the defending champions into the last sixteen where they receive a bye into the quarter-finals.

Friday's action sees the Men's and Mixed events move into the knockout stage, with the last sixteen rounds featuring four matches, with the top four seeds receiving byes through to the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the Women's event continues to complete the qualifying matches in the two Pools, with pairs fighting for places in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Men's last sixteen round:
[1] Stewart Boswell & Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bye
[7] Rodney Durbach & Adrian Hansen (RSA) v [11] Nicholas Kyme & James Stout (BER)
[4] Nick Matthew & James Willstrop (ENG) bye
[5] Campbell Grayson & Martin Knight (NZL) v [10] Aamir Atlas Khan & Khayal Muhammad Khan (PAK)
[9] Shawn Delierre & Matthew Giuffre (CAN) v [6] David Evans & Alex Gough (WAL)
[3] Dan Jenson & David Palmer (AUS) bye
Hartaj Bains & Hardeep Reel (KEN) v [8] Harry Leitch & John White (SCO)
[2] Lee Beachill & Peter Nicol (ENG) bye

Mixed last sixteen round:
[1] Rachael Grinham & David Palmer (AUS) bye
[7] Alison Waters & Adrian Grant (ENG) v [11] Runa Reta & Matthew Giuffre (CAN)
[3] Natalie Grinham & Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bye
[5] Nicol David & Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v [9] Tegwen Malik & Gavin Jones (WAL)
[10] Madeline Perry & Steve Richardson (NIR) v [6] Lara Petera & Callum O'Brien (NZL)
[4] Vicky Botwright & James Willstrop (ENG) bye
[12] Tenille Swartz & Clinton Leeuw (RSA) v [8] Diana Argyle & Craig van der Wath (RSA)
[2] Shelley Kitchen & Glen Wilson (NZL) bye

Men's Doubles: 2nd qualifying round - Pool 1:
[1] Stewart Boswell & Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Hartaj Bains & Hardeep Reel (KEN)
9-4, 9-0, 9-7 (19m)
Pool 2
[11] Nicholas Kyme & James Stout (BER) bt O'Neil Chilambwe & Chiluba Chilufya (ZAM)
10-8, 3-9, 13-11, 9-11, 9-3 (93m)
[2] Lee Beachill & Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Gye Duncan & Duncan Gray (NFI)
9-6, 9-5, 9-2 (16m)
Pool 3
[10] Aamir Atlas Khan & Khayal Muhammad Khan (PAK) bt Yasir Issadeen & Navin Samarasinghe (SRI)
9-4, 12-10, 9-6 (27m)
Pool 4
[4] Nick Matthew & James Willstrop (ENG) bt Joseph Karigithe & Chirag Shah (KEN)
9-3, 9-7, 9-4 (21m)
[4] Nick Matthew & James Willstrop (ENG) bt [9] Shawn Delierre & Matthew Giuffre (CAN)
8-10, 9-4, 9-5, 9-4 (47m)
Pool 5
[5] Campbell Grayson & Martin Knight (NZL) bt Joshua Pinard & Colin Ramasra (TRI)
9-4, 9-3, 9-1 (27m)
[8] Harry Leitch & John White (SCO) bt Peter Christian-Bailey & Steve Nobbs (NFI)
9-5, 9-3, 9-3 (16m)
[5] Campbell Grayson & Martin Knight (NZL) bt [8] Harry Leitch & John White (SCO)
2-9, 9-6, 9-3, 5-9, 11-9 (102m)
Pool 6
[6] David Evans & Alex Gough (WAL) bt [7] Rodney Durbach & Adrian Hansen (RSA)
10-8, 9-7, 10-8 (52m)
Chikumbutso Mkutumula & Aubrey Taulo (MAW) bt Andrew McGoon & Sonalmeet Nagra (FIJ)
6-9, 12-10, 1-9, 9-5, 9-5 (50m)

Women's Doubles: 2nd qualifying round - Pool 1:
[1] Natalie Grinham & Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Karen Anderson & Marlene West (JAM)
9-1, 9-1, 9-2 (17m)
[4] Louise Crome & Lara Petera (NZL) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG)
9-4, 8-10, 9-7, 7-9, 10-8 (131m)
[5] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG) bt Naluge Guy & Eli Webb (PNG)
9-4, 9-7, 9-6 (20m)
[4] Louise Crome & Lara Petera (NZL) bt Karen Anderson & Marlene West (JAM)
9-3, 9-5, 9-3 (26m)
Pool 2
[6] Kasey Brown & Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Nirasha Guruge & Tehani Guruge (SRI)
9-5, 9-1, 9-1 (19m)
[3] Tania Bailey & Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Frania Gillen-Buchert & Louise Philip (SCO)
9-1, 9-7, 9-3 (25m)

Mixed Doubles: 2nd qualifying round - Pool 1:
[1] Rachael Grinham & David Palmer (AUS) bt [12] Tenille Swartz & Clinton Leeuw (RSA)
9-2, 9-4, 9-3 (23m)
[1] Rachael Grinham & David Palmer (AUS) bt Nirasha Guruge & Navin Samarasinghe (SRI)
9-0, 9-4, 9-3 (18m)
Pool 2
[11] Runa Reta & Matthew Giuffre (CAN) bt Tehani Guruge & Yasir Issadeen (SRI)
9-2, 9-6, 9-1 (19m)
[2] Shelley Kitchen & Glen Wilson (NZL) bt Tehani Guruge & Yasir Issadeen (SRI)
9-3, 9-3, 10-8 (19m)
Pool 3
[3] Natalie Grinham & Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt [10] Madeline Perry & Steve Richardson (NIR)
9-4, 12-10, 9-6 (38m)
[10] Madeline Perry & Steve Richardson (NIR) bt Debby Adams & Gye Duncan (NFI)
9-4, 9-3, 9-2 (13m)
Pool 4
[4] Vicky Botwright & James Willstrop (ENG) bt Marlene West & Christopher Binnie (JAM)
9-3, 9-4, 9-5 (23m)
Pool 5
[8] Diana Argyle & Craig van der Wath (RSA) bt Becky Nobbs & Duncan Gray (NFI)
9-4, 9-3, 9-1 (14m)
Pool 6
Sharon Chimfwembe & Chiluba Chilufya (ZAM) bt Vanessa Florens & Nadeem Hosenbux (MRI)
9-5, 6-9, 9-2, 9-6 (33m)
[6] Lara Petera & Callum O'Brien (NZL) bt Vanessa Florens & Nadeem Hosenbux (MRI)
9-3, 9-1, 9-2 (15m)
[7] Alison Waters & Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Sharon Chimfwembe & Chiluba Chilufya (ZAM)
9-6, 9-5, 9-3 (21m)