Like a Bollywood script as Dipika, Saurav and Joshna take home two titles from Glasgow
By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor
England’s top seeds James Willstrop and Declan James won the men’s event but India stole the show with a double triumph at the World Doubles Championships by winning both the women’s and mixed tournaments in Glasgow.
Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal-Karthik repeated their gold medal victory at the same Scotstoun venue at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Pallikal-Karthik partnered Saurav Ghosal to win the mixed event, beating English teams in both finals.
New Zealand’s challenge faded following an injury to world No.5 Joelle King, resulting in the Kiwis conceding walkovers in the mixed event where King was partnered by men’s world No.1 Paul Coll and in the women’s tournament, where she reached the semi-finals with Amanda Landers-Murphy.
The finals day schedule began with a consolation prize for Scotland’s warriors Alan Clyne and Douglas Kempsell, who beat England’s Daryl Selby and Adrian Waller in the bronze medal play-off.
Waller was straight back on court to partner Alison Waters in the mixed final, but an Indian squash fairytale was about to take shape.
Prior to yesterday, India had been beaten finalists in the mixed doubles in 2016 and the men’s doubles in 2004. However, they may have felt confident in the mixed doubles final, with Ghosal and Pallikal Karthik No.2 seeds and their opponents seeded fourth.
In an electric start, Ghosal and Pallikal Karthik blasted their way into a 9-1 lead in the first game, with Waller and Waters unable to cope with the combination of power and accuracy from both Indians.
While the English duo did eventually manage to find a foothold in the match, the lead India had was too great and they took the first game 11-6.
In the second game, both teams had short spells of accumulating points. India, though, were able to keep their noses ahead, eventually securing an 11-8 win to take the title.
Afterwards, Pallikal Karthik, who returned to the game after three years out and having become a first-time mother to twins last October, said: “It’s just been a long journey for me to be here. And I’m just very, very excited to be playing with Saurav and being with the whole Indian team. There’s a lot of gratitude from me just being here today.
“The plan was to always come back [to squash]. But in between it didn’t really seem likely. But I think I just had the right people with me. Saurav kept pushing me wherever he was in the world! And then obviously my husband (IPL cricketer Dinesh Karthik), my in-laws, my parents, all just making me be back here and playing again.”
Ghosal added: “I think India is an emerging country. We are trying to do our best to put our foothold on the world squash map. Of course, countries like England and Australia and now Egypt have done exceedingly well and their history is very rich. This generation is trying to create create some history so that the next generations can follow us.”
No sooner had Pallikal Karthik completed her post-match interviews than the 30-year-old was back on court, this time securing India’s second gold medal.
And the script played out like a Bollywood movie. Alongside Joshna Chinappa, Pallikal Karthik once again put England to the sword, having won the gold medal against England in the 2014 Commonwealth Games when the new doubles court size had been unveiled.
After taking the first game 11-9, India were pegged back by an 11-4 second-game loss to women’s No.2 seeds Sarah-Jane Perry and Alison Waters.
Although Perry and Waters had already beaten the Indian pair in the group stage, this time there was to be no repeat, with Chinappa and Pallikal Karthik recovering to take the third 11-8.
Chinappa said afterwards: “I feel great. After we lost to them a few days back, we really wanted to come out with a very strong plan. Fortunately, I have a very strong partner, so that helps me quite a bit on court!”
Pallikal Karthik added that it was incredible to win her second gold medal of the day and that she would use the experience of the tournament as a springboard for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
After two demoralising defeats for England, there was joy for them in the last final of the day, as top seeds Declan James and James Willstrop broke home hearts with a 2-0 win over Scottish No.6 seeds Greg Lobban and Rory Stewart.
At 10-8 down in the first game, the prospect of England’s long hunt for a championship gold, which they hadn’t won since 1997 in Hong Kong, seemed far away. But James and Willstrop dug in to save the game balls before taking the game 11-10 and then winning the second 11-6 to take the title.
“That was tremendous,” Willstrop said after the match. “We knew that we had to just be absolutely on it. We gave them full respect because they deserve it. And hopefully we deserve it. We’re chuffed to bits.
“It’s a huge event, it’s a world title. We’re so grateful to Scottish Squash, to the WSF and for everyone who’s joined together to put this together and make it a huge event.
“It’s a great facility, isn’t it? And it’s good memories from Glasgow (from the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where Willstrop finished runner-up to Nick Matthew) for some of the old geezers in the team. So yeah, we’re thrilled with it. And we’re glad to be up here playing!”
Lobban, meanwhile, reflected on the positives of a week in which Scottish teams played above their seedings and won silver and bronze medals in the men’s draw, a bronze medal in the mixed, and secured impressive fifth-place finishes in the mixed and women’s draws.
With Nick Matthew supporting David Campion in the England coaching team, former England national coach David Pearson was this time wearing the blue tracksuit of the Scottish camp.
Lobban said: “The tournament was fantastic. I had a good run in the men’s with Rory and with Lisa (Aitken) in the mixed draw. Today, we came really close.
“It’s tough to take but looking at the bigger picture, getting to the world championships is a big achievement that we’re very proud of. This is the first time Rory and I have played together in a major competition, so to come second in the men’s draw is a great achievement.
“We knew coming in we were one of the best teams and had a really good chance, so I’m pleased we came away with something.”
On a day when play-offs were held to decide final positions, South Africa and Australia ended with two wins apiece.
At the medal ceremony, WSF President Zena Wooldridge and Scottish Squash President Mark Adderley thanked the players, partners, volunteers and everyone else who had made the tournament a success.
Wooldridge told the crowd: “I think you’ll agree this has been an absolutely fabulous week of squash. Having been denied World Championships for nearly two and a half years, it’s just fantastic to be back.”
WSF World Doubles Squash Championships Finals
Mixed Doubles Final: [2] Saurav Ghosal/Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) (11/6 11/8 22mins) [4] Adrian Waller/Alison Waters (ENG)
Women’s Final: [3] Joshna Chinappa/Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) (11/9 4/11 11/8 40mins) [2] Sarah-Jane Perry/Alison Waters (ENG)
Men’s Final: [1] Declan James/James Willstrop (ENG) (11/10 11/6 51mins) [6] Greg Lobban/Rory Stewart (SCO)
All Other Results
Mixed – Third/Fourth Playoff [5/6] Joel Makin/Tesni Evans (WAL) (8/11 9/11 28mins) [7/8] Greg Lobban/Lisa Aitken (SCO)
Mixed – Position 01-08 [13/16] Rory Stewart/Georgia Adderley (SCO) (4/11 11/7 11/8 43mins) [5/6] Ryan Cuskelly/Rachael Grinham (AUS)
Mixed – Position 09-16 [9/10] Vikram Malhotra/Joshna Chinappa (IND) (4/11 6/11 14mins) [9/10] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal/Aifa Azman (MAS)
Women’s – Position 09-12 [11/12] Alexandra Fuller/Cheyna Wood (RSA) (11/10 10/11 11/10 34mins) [11/12] Abbie Palmer/Kaitlyn Watts (NZL)
Women’s – Position 05-08 [5/6] Georgina Kennedy/Lucy Turmel (ENG) (5/11 11/3 4/11 25mins) [7/8] Georgia Adderley/Lisa Aitken (SCO)
Men’s – Third/Fourth Playoff [5] Alan Clyne/Douglas Kempsell (SCO) (11/9 10/11 11/9 61mins) [2] Daryl Selby/Adrian Waller (ENG)
Men’s – Position 01-16 [10/12] Rhys Dowling/Rex Hedrick (AUS) (11/9 9/11 11/10 63mins) [13/15] Tsz Kwan Lau/Henry Leung (HKG)
Men’s – Position 01-16 [16/18] Jean-Pierre Brits/Christo Potgieter (RSA) (10/11 11/7 11/3 33mins) Bernat Jaume/Joel Jaume Izcara (ESP)
Men’s – Position 01-16 [7/9] Peter Creed/Emyr Evans (WAL) (11/5 11/5 23mins) [13/15] Addeen Idrakie/Sai Hung Ong (MAS)
Men’s – Position 01-16 [3] Zac Alexander/Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) (11/7 11/8 23mins) [4] Eain Yow Ng/Ivan Yuen (MAS)
Men’s – Position 17-32 [7/9] Vikram Malhotra/Ramit Tandon (IND) (11/7 11/10 37mins) Elliot Morris/Owain Taylor (WAL)
Final Standings
Mixed
1 Saurav Ghosal & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND)
2 Adrian Waller & Alison Waters (ENG)
3 Greg Lobban & Lisa Aitken (SCO)
4 Joel Makin & Tesni Evans (WAL)
5 Rory Stewart & Georgia Adderley (SCO)
6 Ryan Cuskelly & Rachael Grinham (AUS)
7 Patrick Rooney & Georgina Kennedy (ENG)
8 Paul Coll & Joelle King (NZL)
9 Mohammad Syafiq Kamal & Aifa Azman (MAS)
10 Vikram Malhotra & Joshna Chinappa (IND)
Women’s
1 Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND)
2 Sarah-
3 Rachel Arnold & Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
4 Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)
5 Georgia Adderley & Lisa Aitken (SCO)
6 Georgina Kennedy & Lucy Turmel (ENG)
Men’s
1 Declan James & James Willstrop (ENG)
2 Greg Lobban & Rory Stewart (SCO)
3 Alan Clyne & Douglas Kempsell (SCO)
4 Daryl Selby & Adrian Waller (ENG)
5 Zac Alexander & Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
6 Eain Yow Ng & Ivan Yuen (MAS)
7 Peter Creed & Emyr Evans (WAL)
8 Addeen Idrakie & Sai Hung Ong (MAS)
9 Rhys Dowling & Rex Hedrick (AUS)
10 Tsz Kwan Lau & Henry Leung (HKG)
11 Jean-Pierre Brits & Christo Potgieter (RSA)
12 Bernat Jaume & Joel Jaume Izcara (ESP)
13 Vikram Malhotra & Ramit Tandon (IND)
14 Elliott Morris & Owain Taylor (WAL)
Pictures courtesy of World Squash and Scottish Squash