Kiwi King Eyes World Doubles Double In Darwin
17 Aug 2016
New Zealand's Joelle King is in line for twin gold success in the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships in Darwin after prevailing in both the Women's and Mixed semi-finals today in the World Squash Federation event at the Darwin Squash Centre.
Partnering Amanda Landers-Murphy in the Women's Doubles semi-finals, world No.9 King defeated Malaysian pair Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold, the fourth seeds, 11-5, 11-3 in just 16 minutes.
The third-seeded pair will now face Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart, the second seeds from Australia who they upset in an earlier Pool match.
Urquhart and veteran campaigner Grinham, the 39-year-old former world No.1 and world champion from Queensland, dug deep to beat event favourites Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik, the Indian pair who are the reigning Commonwealth Games champions, 11-5, 11-10 in 29 minutes.
King and partner Paul Coll recovered from a defeat in today's final qualifying round in the Mixed Doubles to regroup in the semis and see off Australia's No.4 seeds Donna Urquhart & David Palmer 11-9, 11-7.
The Kiwi duo will line up in the final against Indians Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal, the second seeds to whom they lost earlier.
Pallikal and Ghosal made the final following a tough three-game semi-final win over lower-seeded Indian compatriots Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu.
Scotland's Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban will face home pair David Palmer & Zac Alexander in the Men's Doubles final. The second-seeded Scots caused a big shock in the semi-finals after ousting Australians Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley, the top seeds, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 in 73 minutes.
Fourth seeds Palmer & Alexander ensured home interest in two of the three finals by upsetting the third-seeded NZ pair Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 in the other semi.
Men's Doubles Final:
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) v [4] David Palmer & Zac Alexander (AUS)
Women's Doubles Final:
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) v [3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)
Mixed Doubles Final:
[3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) v [2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND)
Official website: wsfworlddoubles.com/
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Men's Doubles
3rd qualifying round, Pool A
[4] David Palmer & Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [5] Andrés Herrera & Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 11-10, 11-7
Pool B
[3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [6] Nafiizwan Adnan & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 11-9, 11-8 (44m)
Semi-finals:
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [1] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 (73m)
[4] David Palmer & Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 (65m)
Women's Doubles
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)
Mixed Doubles
3rd qualifying round, Pool A
[4] Donna Urquhart & David Palmer (AUS) bt [5] Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 7-11, 11-5, 11-8 (41m)
[8] Amanda Landers-Murphy & Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [9] Delia Arnold & Sanjay Singh Chal (MAS) 11-6, 11-6 (16m)
Pool B
[2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) 11-10, 8-11, 11-8 (46m)
[7] Tesni Evans & Peter Creed (WAL) bt [6] Catalina Pelaez & Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 10-11, 11-2, 11-8 (40m)
[11] Jenny Haley & Joel Makin (WAL) bt [10] Rachel Arnold & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 11-5, 9-11, 11-8 (35m)
Semi-finals:
[3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) bt [4] Donna Urquhart & David Palmer (AUS) 11-9, 11-7 (36m)
[2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [5] Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 10-11, 11-7, 11-6 (37m)
