Pilley and Cuskelly march on
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
There were mixed fortunes for hosts Australia on the second day of action in the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships in Darwin where, despite a surprise defeat for the second seeds in the final qualifying round of the Women’s Doubles event, home pair Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart will still line up in Wednesday’s semi-finals.
Grinham and Urquhart were beaten 11-7, 11-8 by third-seeded New Zealanders Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy in the World Squash Federation event at the Darwin Squash Centre – and will now face event favourites Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik, the reigning Commonwealth Games champions from India for a place in the final.
The indefatigable Grinham, the 39-year-old former world No.1 and world champion from Queensland, also suffered two successive shock defeats in the Mixed Doubles qualifiers.
She and Cameron Pilley, the top-seeded pair, went down in three games both to the Indian pair Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, the fifth seeds, and compatriots Donna Urquhart and David Palmer, seeded four – and cannot now reach the event’s knockout stage.
Australia are well-placed in Pool A of the Men’s Doubles, with both teams sitting in first and second place.
Top seeds Ryan Cuskelly and Cameron Pilley recorded their fourth successive win to maintain an unbeaten record in the event, whilst the fourth-seeded Aussies David Palmer and Zac Alexander have only lost to Cuskelly and Pilley and will meet the Colombian pair Andrés Herrera and Juan Camilo Vargas on Wednesday for a spot in the semi-finals.
Second-seeded Scots Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban also suffered a surprise defeat, going down 11-6, 11-10 to New Zealanders Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson, the third seeds.
WSF World Doubles Squash Championships, Darwin, Australia
2nd qualifying rounds
Men’s Doubles, Pool A:
[4] David Palmer & Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [9] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu & Ramit Tandon (IND) 11-5, 11-8
[1] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [5] Andrés Herrera & Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 11-5, 11-6
[5] Andrés Herrera & Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) bt [8] Sanjay Singh Chal & Ivan Yuen (MAS) 11-4, 7-11, 11-7 (35m)
[1] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [4] David Palmer & Zac Alexander (AUS) 11-6, 11-6 (26m)
[9] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu & Ramit Tandon (IND) bt [8] Sanjay Singh Chal & Ivan Yuen (MAS) 6-11, 11-4, 11-10
Pool B
[3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [10] Douglas Kempsell & Kevin Moran (SCO) 9-11, 11-6, 11-2
[7] Peter Creed & Joel Makin (WAL) bt [10] Douglas Kempsell & Kevin Moran (SCO) 11-8, 6-11, 11-7 (52m)
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [6] Nafiizwan Adnan & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 11-4, 11-7 (32m)
[6] Nafiizwan Adnan & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) bt [7] Peter Creed & Joel Makin (WAL) 11-9, 8-11, 11-2 (41m)
[3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) 11-6, 11-10 (39m)
Women’s Doubles, Pool A:
[4] Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt [5] Sarah Cardwell & Christine Nunn (AUS) 11-10, 11-8
[1] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) bt [8] Aika Azman & Teh Min Jie (MAS) 11-5, 11-5
Pool B
[7] Tesni Evans & Jenny Haley (WAL) bt [6] Catalina Pelaez & Laura Tovar (COL) 11-3, 11-6 (17m)
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt [2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-7, 11-8 (24m)
Women’s Doubles semi-final line-up:
[1] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) v [2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS)
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) v [4] Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold (MAS)
Mixed Doubles, Pool A:
[4] Donna Urquhart & David Palmer (AUS) bt [9] Delia Arnold & Sanjay Singh Chal (MAS) 11-10, 11-8
[5] Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt [1] Rachael Grinham & Cameron Pilley (AUS) 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 (43m)
[5] Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt [8] Amanda Landers-Murphy & Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-9, 11-5 (22m)
[4] Donna Urquhart & David Palmer (AUS) bt [1] Rachael Grinham & Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-5, 5-11, 11-8 (46m)
Pool B
[2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [6] Catalina Pelaez & Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-4, 11-5
[7] Tesni Evans & Peter Creed (WAL) bt [11] Jenny Haley & Joel Makin (WAL) 11-10, 11-5
[3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) bt [10] Rachel Arnold & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 11-6, 11-4 (19m)
[7] Tesni Evans & Peter Creed (WAL) bt [10] Rachel Arnold & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 11-7, 9-11, 11-4 (36m)
[2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [11] Jenny Haley & Joel Makin (WAL) 11-9, 11-7 (21m)
[3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) bt [6] Catalina Pelaez & Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-8, 11-4 (25m)
Pictures by Squash Australia