England hope to shine in Manchester
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad International Correspondent
Hosts England will lead 12 nations that have confirmed entry for the 2017 WSF World Doubles Squash Championships which will take place at the National Squash Centre in Manchester between 1-5 August.
The fifth World Doubles Championships, which will feature Men’s, Women’s and Mixed events and will be hosted by England Squash, come just a year after the Australian city of Darwin staged the 2016 championships, in which medals were shared between the hosts, New Zealand, Scotland, India and Malaysia. (England did not compete).
A record 51 pairs will participate – comprising 17 Men’s, 21 Mixed and 13 Women’s – representing Australia, Canada, Colombia, England, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.
Pairing details will be confirmed in July after the deadline for final nominations, but 13 players from the current men’s and women’s top 20 ranking lists are expected to compete – with England likely to be led by Laura Massaro, James Willstrop, Alison Waters, Daryl Selby and Sarah-Jane Perry. Wales have Tesni Evans and Scotland Alan Clyne as probable spearheads.
Meanwhile, New Zealand appear strong with Joelle King and Paul Coll; Australia with Cameron Pilley and double Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist David Palmer; India including 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medal pairing Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa; and Malaysia with superstar Nicol David.
The World Doubles will provide ideal preparation both for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, where doubles squash will be a feature of the Games for the sixth time since 1998, and also the for Pan American Games the following year.
Picture from Squash Mad archive