India & Hosts Australia To Contest Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Final

India and hosts Australia will go head-to-head in a surprise Commonwealth Games Squash Mixed Doubles final after the top two seeds failed to survive today's three-game semi-finals at Oxenford Studios in Gold Coast, Australia.

It was the end of the line for the favourites when Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal, the fifth seeds from India, defeated New Zealanders Joelle King & Paul Coll, the reigning world champions, 9-11, 11-8, 11-10 in 53 minutes.

From 6-3 down in the third and final game, the Kiwis came back to take a 7-6 lead before India moved on to match-ball at 10-9. King & Coll grabbed the next point to force a sudden death 10-10 'match-ball' for both pairs - but after a lengthy rally, King hit the ball into the tin to put Pallikal and Ghosal into the final.

"We both wanted it really badly," said a beaming Pallikal (pictured above being interviewed with Ghosal on the court) later. "They were two up on us and they had their confidence going. We knew it was going to be a really long match - the main thing for us was to get everything up, regardless of how good a shot it was. We also knew we had to enjoy ourselves."

Ghosal added: "Joelle's having an absolute cracker of a week, she's playing so well, and Paul lost the men's final and he's also playing well, and as a team they won the last two World Doubles - and deservedly so. They beat us - the only team we lost to."

Speaking of his partner and sister-in-law, Ghosal continued: "Dipika was immense tonight, she did so well. She dictated the forehand side of the court more than Joelle did. She was moving well and picked up some great balls - she was brilliant.

"It's about winning a medal for India - and that's we work for. We take a lot of pride in playing for our country. It's not about money or fame - it's about contributing to that medal table.

"Dipika and I are a very good pair."

The second semi immediately followed on the all-glass showcourt - with the capacity crowd eager to cheer on a home pair. Undoubtedly buoyed by the crowd, Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley recovered from the loss of the first game to beat Alison Waters & Daryl Selby, the No.2 seeds from England, 10-11, 11-7, 11-7 in 55 minutes.

"We're absolutely stoked," said New South Welshman Pilley (pictured above during the match). "We knew we were in for a battle. They're the No.2 seeds. The crowd brought us home there. It was so good to hear them cheering their heads off - it doesn't happen much for the Aussies."

Fellow Yamba-born Urquhart, his first cousin who earlier also came through a Women's Doubles quarter-final clash, added: "The atmosphere tonight was as good as it was this morning - and it's nice when you can give them something to cheer about. There were a couple of thousand people here. We didn't want to let them down.

"When we were scheduled to play them (Selby & Waters) at the recent World Doubles, in the quarter-finals in Manchester, after the first five points of the game, I tore my calf muscle. I was devastated - I felt that I'd let my team-mates down. We felt we could do well against them, but didn't get the chance."

So how did the pair feel about being the first Aussie players to be sure of a medal at the Games? "It means heaps!" said Pilley. "On paper, even though India are the No.5 seeds, we all know how good they are - they've done so well in the past. We didn't have anything to lose tonight and tomorrow it will be the same. We're guaranteed silver so we've got nothing to lose - we'll just go on and enjoy it."

On explaining the pair's relationship, Pilley explained: "We grew up together in Yamba - our mums are sisters and we grew up as next door neighbours."

Urquhart expanded: "Cam is four years older than me but we played a lot of squash in those early days. I remember he played with his left hand and I tried SO hard to beat him!"

It was in the morning that Urquhart teamed up with Rachael Grinham to survive one of the most dramatic squash matches ever seen in the Commonwealth Games.

The fourth seeds looked dead and buried when Welsh pair Tesni Evans & Deon Saffery, the No.6 seeds, took the first game and built up a 9-1 lead in the second - just one point shy of match-ball.

But, with the partisan crowd behind them, Grinham and Urquhart (pictured above during the match) stuck to the task and reduced the deficit point by point before drawing level after a sudden death 10-all tie-break. With the stuffing knocked out of the Welsh, the Aussie pair motored on to take the third to win 9-11, 11-10, 11-3 - much to the overjoyed delight of the crowd.

When asked if they had ever experienced a comeback like that, Urquhart was quick to respond: "I know I haven't!"

Grinham said: "Not that I can remember - but that's a big one and we'll always remember that!"

On the impact of the crowd, Urquhart said: "At 9-1 down they were really quiet and with every point we got back they got louder and louder!

"Wales played amazingly. In the first game I thought we were playing well and in control but they did really well to play winners on some big points. In the second they went up because they were playing really well."

Grinham added: "It's so hard in the doubles - you do have to be attacking but at the same time the points can go away from you so quickly if you make errors."

Another earlier match saw a different outcome between Pilley and Selby. It was a quarter-final match in the Men's Doubles when Pilley & Ryan Cuskelly, the top seeds and reigning world champions, faced English outsiders Daryl Selby & Adrian Waller, the 7th seeds.

The Aussie pair, widely considered one of the hosts' best gold medal hopes, failed to capitalise on a first game lead and allowed Selby and Waller to clinch a massive 9-11, 11-8, 11-10 triumph in 73 minutes.

The match followed another English win, by Declan James & James Willstrop who now face compatriots Selby and Waller for a place in the final.

"What can I say, my partner was phenomenal - he had a lot of balls to hit today," said Selby. "It's his first Commonwealth Games and he played phenomenally well. I was lucky enough to hit the winning shot but Waller was absolutely brilliant.

"As I said yesterday, as a pair, we're dangerous - but these boys are world champions and they're world champions for a reason: they're the best doubles pair, and they have been for a long time. A win over them, in Australia, is something very special.

"And it guarantees some medals for Team England!

"I'm delighted to be in two semi-finals on a personal note, for Team England - and we're going to have a Doubles finalist again in the men's!"

Waller, who departed from the Mixed doubles the evening before after a defeat by Selby and his mixed partner - again 11-10 in the decider - added: "Yesterday was brutal for the whole team - no-one wanted to watch, everyone was on the edge of their seats. There were really no winners out of that - because everyone put their heart and soul into it.

"But we backed up well afterwards - last night Daryl and I played really well and I think we took the took the confidence from that into today's match. They're a solid pair and didn't give us much at all.
To get through on sudden death ...... I didn't want to lose two in a row - that would have been too much!

"But I'm so happy for us and Team England."

An unusual quarter-final fixture in the Women's Doubles saw top seeds Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy, representing New Zealand, take on English pair Jenny Duncalf (pictured above behind Landers-Murphy) & Alison Waters, the second seeds. The Kiwis, paired with the No.2 seeds after failing to win their qualifying pool group, made it clear that they are fully back on track after dismissing their English rivals 11-10, 11-5.
 

Indians & Malaysians Break Through As Doubles Knockout Action Intensifies

With medals in sight as competition intensified on the first day of knockout action in the Commonwealth Games Squash Doubles in Gold Coast, Australia, it was athletes from India and Malaysia who upset the form book at Oxenford Studios.

Indian pair Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal experienced the full range of emotions across two matches in the Mixed Doubles. In the morning, the fifth seeds struggled against Malaysians Aifa Azman & Sanjay Singh Chal, recovering from dropping the first game to
come back and beat the 11th seeds 7-11, 11-6, 11-8

In the evening quarter-finals, the pair then pulled off a notable upset over Tesni Evans & Peter Creed of Wales (pictured above), fighting from behind in the second to clinch a
tie-break and beat the third seeds 11-8, 11-10 in 38 minutes.

"When you play two matches a day, it's really hard to regroup and come back stronger in
the second because you're so used to just playing one match a day," said Pallikal. "When
you mess up one match in the Commonwealth Games you're out for four years, rather
than when you play PSA you can come back the next year and play it again.

"I think we enjoyed it a little more this evening than we did this morning - and that's when
we play our best squash. We loosened up a little bit in the evening - and we're just glad to have taken that second game as they were coming out really strong and if it had gone to a third it could have gone either way."

Ghosal continued: "Very rarely do you have an entire event when you play the way you
want to the whole time. You'll have a day when you're not feeling the ball well, or your
body's not moving well. I think the morning match was something like that.

"But credit to the Malaysians, they played really, really well. We had to get through that
match and sometimes when you get through matches like that, it gets you better.

"But there's more that we can do. We won a good match against a very good team this evening."

But now the pressure's off? "I agree there's no pressure on us now," said Pallikal. "But
both of us know that the Commonwealth Games is really important and we want to do well.
I think Saurav and I are good enough to beat anyone on our day."

The pair are playing the Commonwealth Games for the first time together since Ghosal
married his partner's sister. "I've known Dipika since she was about nine or ten and we've always been close - and I dated her sister for a very long time, since I was 16, so we've known each for a long time.

"I don't think the 'intimacy' has changed a lot, but of course she's family now, and I've
always cared for her."

Pallikal and Ghosal will now face top-seeded New Zealanders Joelle King & Paul Coll for a place in the final.

The other Mixed semi will be the Anglo/Australian affair predicted by the seedings - featuring the second seeds Alison Waters & Daryl Selby, of England, and fourth-seeded Aussies Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley
(pictured above in morning action against Cayman Islands).

Incredibly, both pairs survived tense and emotional domestic derbies - in which each pair's opponents included their own partner in the other doubles event!

On the showcourt, Urquhart and Pilley despatched Rachael Grinham & Ryan Cuskelly, the sixth seeds, 11-6, 11-9.

But it was on one of the sidecourts that Waters and Selby squandered a one-game lead
to let their opponents Jenny Duncalf & Adrian Waller, the No.7 seeds, draw level - then
lead the decider 10-8.

The re-focussed second seeds saved three match balls to win 11-7, 9-11, 11-10 in exactly
one hour.

"We've obviously trained a lot together and every time we play in practice it's really close," explained an emotionally-drained Selby (pictured above during the morning match against Malta). "They're a really good pair and have both improved a hell of a lot. We knew it was going to be tough.

"I think we played the first game well and half of the second game really well - but I think
we just saw the finishing line and both us were guilty of hitting a few errors and making
a few mistakes and letting them back in. And they capitalised extremely well!

"Alison dug in and did what she does best. I'm proud of her. We came through from 10-8 down!

"But it was very emotional. I felt joy and sadness in equal amounts - genuinely! We're all
so close: Adrian's my doubles partner and Jenny and Alison play together. It was really horrible to play in that match.

"It's emotionally draining to play against friends - especially when it's that close. When it's
10-all in the third, it's just one point - one mistake, one error, one no let, one something .... and you're gone! Or you're still in a competition that only happens every four years! That's why I, Jenny and Alison are quite emotional about it as we know it's our last chance."

Looking forward to the semi, Selby said: "They're going to have the home crowd behind
them. But we're a dangerous pair. It's going to be an enjoyable experience. We came here
 for a medal and we've got two cracks at medals. We've just got to take one match at a
time and try and enjoy the atmosphere."

The unexpected Malaysian success in the Men's Doubles extended play late into the night.
 It was an all-Malaysian clash between experienced pair Nafiizwan Adnan & Ivan Yuen,
 the eighth seeds, and event newcomers Mohd Syafiq Kamal & Eain Yow Ng, seeded in
10th place.

With a place in the quarter-finals at stake, it was underdogs Kamal & Ng who ultimately prevailed - winning 4-11, 11-9, 11-10 in 76 minutes, the longest match of the day.

Scottish medal hopes rest exclusively with Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban, the second seeds
 in the Men's doubles. The experienced pair despatched Trinidad & Tobago's Mandela
Patrick & Kale Wilson (see below) 11-2, 11-5 in just 13 minutes to secure a slot in the
last eight.

"We didn't underestimate our opponents and did what we had to do," said Clyne. "We've been battling away on these side courts without much attention - which suits us. But it
will be good now to get onto the showcourt tomorrow."

Lobban added: "Our partnership started at the World Doubles in 2016 - which we won.
We worked well together and enjoyed playing together - so it was probably back then
that we started planning our bid to be here to fight for medals at the Commonwealth
Games."

Women's quarter-final line-up:
[9] Rachel Arnold & Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v [7] Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[3] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) v [5] Samantha Cornett & Nikki Todd (CAN)
[4] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) v [6] Tesni Evans & Deon Saffery (WAL)
[2] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG) v [1] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)

Intense Day Two Action Sets Up Commonwealth Games Doubles Knockout Stages

After a day two count of 30 pool matches spread across five courts, Commonwealth Games Squash action moves into the knockout stages on Thursday in the Women's and Mixed Doubles at Oxenford Studios in Gold Coast, Australia.

A crucial encounter in the Women's event opened proceeding on the all-glass showcourt where top-seeded New Zealanders Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy faced Aussie pair Sarah Cardwell & Christine Nunn, the No.8 seeds, in a match (see above) which the Kiwi world champions - after losing in Monday's first pool match - had to win in order to progress to the knockout stage.

With King, the newly-crowned Commonwealth singles gold medallist, now in the 'doubles zone', the favourites took just 21 minutes to see off the home duo 11-8, 11-6.

"If we lost, we were definitely out," conceded King afterwards. "I guess we just wanted to come back and try and play better than we did yesterday - it was a pretty poor start from myself. I had the afternoon off yesterday and was able to recover a bit more.

"Doubles is one of those games where it takes a little bit to gell - especially when you've been playing singles and you've got to try and switch over. And we certainly gelled a lot better in that game."

Was it difficult to come down from Monday's high of gold medal success? "Yes," said King. "Not much sleep and all that - but we're professionals and that's what we've got to do.

"I was disappointed with the way I played yesterday - it wasn't good. I had to come back today and restart my doubles campaign. So hopefully we can move forward out of the round robin then see what else we can do."

Partner Landers-Murphy said: "It's a team effort - both of us were out there and we just didn't perform as we wanted to. Today we had to come out and prove that we can play better.

"We don't go on there thinking we're world champs - we go on there taking each day as it comes."

When asked how she was handling playing both doubles events, with different partners, King explained: "Playing match after match is not so bad, we train to switch over pretty quickly. I just didn't expect as big a come-down from the singles. That was probably the hardest part of it. Transitioning was easy because we all know each other really well, we know what's working. But it's been a long week already.

"We've just started the doubles and we all agree it was probably our worst performance ever yesterday. But we've got nothing to lose. Sometimes when you have a loss it sparks you on a bit. I guess we're going to muck up the draw - which we've done many times. In the world doubles, Paul and I lost as well in our pool and ended up actually going through and winning!"

Later in the day, the Kiwi pair's surprise first day victors Rachel Arnold & Sivasangari Subramaniam, the 9th seeds from Malaysia, completed a second successive upset win by fighting back from a game down to beat Cardwell & Nunn (all pictured above) 10-11, 11-6, 11-5 - thereby topping Pool A, ahead of fellow qualifiers King & Landers-Murphy.

"We're very excited," said Arnold. "It's our first tournament together - and it's in the Commonwealth so I'm very happy with our performance. After yesterday, it was important for us to get a win today as well and not just slow down."

Event debutante Subramaniam, still only 19, said: "It was a really good win for us, yesterday and today, to make it to the quarters as ninth seeds! It was a very good win, but it's not over yet!"

New Zealander Paul Coll was also rapidly adjusting to doubles play after battling to silver in the men's individual final less than two days earlier. His first of the day's two matches was a men's fixture in which he partnered Campbell Grayson to an 11-4, 11-10 victory over Maltese pair Bradley Hindle & Daniel Zammit-Lewis.

How easy was the change from singles? "It's not easy, you've got to be pretty switched on," said the world No.9 (pictured above, foreground, in the day's Mixed match). "Yesterday morning was tough, today is a lot better. Campbell carried me yesterday, made it easy for me. But we've got a great team from New Zealand, physios, etc, who take wonderful care of us. Body's feeling good."

His partner agreed: "He's come from such a high, the emotion and everything - and doubles is a lot different as well, and I've had the opportunity to play for the last couple of days. I've just got to try and look after him and help him when I need to."

Coll interjected: "He's a good masseuse as well!"

Grayson responded instantly: "Yes, they call him Superman - but I'm going for the Superman role now!"

Coll continued: "Since the individuals started I haven't had time to play any doubles - but it comes back pretty quickly. One or two matches and it clicks pretty well - and we've got our communication sorted out which is key to us, we trust each other.

"Malta came out firing in the second game and got an early lead. We had to talk about our tactics and find a solution, which we did. And from 8-3 down we won 11-10. Yes, that was tough."

Two English pairs vying for a places in the Women's quarter-finals were placed in the same qualifying pool - and in the morning faced each other.

Second favourites Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters justified their seeding by beating compatriots Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry, the No.7 seeds, 11-4, 11-7.

Was it difficult playing their team-mates? "It's obviously a very different dynamic to playing other countries, but in individuals we play each other all the time, so we're kind of used to it," said Duncalf, a former world No.2. "But, in a funny way, being in the same group could be good for us if we both get through - so then we won't play each other in the knockout stages so soon.

"But we played so much, in the summer and just recently before we left. We knew what we wanted to do and were quietly confident - we thought we could do well."

The No.2 seeds got off to a strong start on Tuesday by beating Scots Lisa Aitken & Alison Thomson. On that match, Waters added: "It helped us having that match yesterday - it was a good match against the Scots and it got us into our flow and we came out really strong in that first one."

Replying to a question about the number of matches players are playing in these early days, Duncalf said: "I enjoy it - we've both got three today, we're both playing the mixed and women's - the more I'm on court, the happier I am. The mixed is so tough, it sharpens me up for the women's as well. I love being on court. I didn't play the individuals so it's exciting getting a piece of the action!"

Later in the day Massaro & Perry clinched their place in the quarter-finals - but had to recover from a game down and battle for 50 minutes to quash Aitken & Thomson (see above) 9-11, 11-8, 11-7.

Perry, the singles silver medallist, was emphatic: "The singles are completely out of my head - I had yesterday to get into the doubles. We just wanted to go on there and get the job done."

Massaro admitted: "We knew there was a lot of pressure on us and we weren't happy with our performance this morning. They won a silver medal at the world doubles, we practise with them a lot and we know how good they are.

"Even though we weren't that happy with our match this morning, we thought it would help us for tonight - and I think it did. We knew our backs were against the wall. I said to SJ after the second, if we lose this we go down with no regrets.

"We're two quality performers under pressure - in fact that might have been the difference in the end as we back ourselves to be able to perform under a huge amount of pressure - being one-nil down - and hold it together. That wasn't our best squash but it's what makes me proud that we can come through when we're not playing our best squash."

Women's quarter-final line-up:
[9] Rachel Arnold & Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v [7] Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[3] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) v [5] Samantha Cornett & Nikki Todd (CAN)
[4] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) v [6] Tesni Evans & Deon Saffery (WAL)
[2] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG) v [1] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)

Mixed last sixteen round line-up:
[1] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) v [15] Meagan Best & Shawn Simpson (BAR)
[8] Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) v [10] Amanda Landers-Murphy & Zac Millar (NZL)
[3] Tesni Evans & Peter Creed (WAL) v [13] Faiza Zafar & Farhan Zaman (PAK)
[5] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [11] Aifa Azman & Sanjay Singh Chal (MAS)
[6] Rachael Grinham & Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [12] Madina Zafar & Tayyab Aslam (PAK)
[4] Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [14] Marlene West & Cameron Stafford (CAY)
[7] Jenny Duncalf & Adrian Waller (ENG) v [9] Lisa Aitken & Kevin Moran (SCO)
[2] Alison Waters & Daryl Selby (ENG) v [16] Dianne Kellas & Bradley Hindle (MLT)

2018 Commonwealth Games images courtesy of Toni Van der Kreek

Malaysians Overcome World Champions As
Doubles Get Underway

Less than 24 hours after the drama of the Singles medals finals day, Commonwealth Games Squash action switched to Doubles as players took to the wider courts in bids for glory in the Men's, Women's and Mixed events at Oxenford Studios in Gold Coast, Australia.

There was a significant Pool upset early in the day in the women's event when Rachel Arnold & Sivasangari Subramaniam, the ninth seeds from Malaysia, brushed aside top seeds Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy, the reigning world champions from New Zealand.

The match took place some 16 hours after King celebrated becoming the first Kiwi to win a singles gold medal - after surviving a dramatic and energy-sapping 78-minute final.

But Arnold & Subramaniam (pictured below) clearly made no allowances for this, storming to a shock 11-10, 11-10 best-of-three victory (the standard doubles scoring) over the favourites.

"We were ready for a tough match," said 21-year-old Arnold, ranked 51 in the world. "We stuck to our plan and we played really well."

Rising Malaysian star Subramaniam, a 19-year-old Games debutante ranked 42 in the world, added: "We've played a lot of doubles in Malaysia - we did a lot of work to focus on doubles, so we were well-prepared.

"It was a really good start for us - especially as they are top seeds in the draw. I was really pleased with what I did in the singles - our confidence levels are getting higher. But we've got to keep going and win tomorrow."

King and Landers-Murphy need to win their remaining match to keep alive hopes of making the knockout stages.

King made up for her disappointing doubles start later in the day when she teamed up with men's singles final runner-up Paul Coll to beat Papua New Guinea pair Lynette Vai & Madako Junior Suari 11-4, 11-7 in the Mixed event.

The packed showcourt crowd enjoyed the first of three home wins on the day when fifth seeds Zac Alexander & David Palmer dismissed Cayman Islands pair Alexander Frazer & Jacob Kelly 11-6, 11-3 in an early Men's doubles qualifier.

"Just focussing on the men's doubles - the one event for us - is great," explained Palmer, a double Doubles gold medallist in the Glasgow Games in 2014 and the player with the most Games medals of all-time - eight in five appearances since 1998. "Having the extra courts to practise on has been the first time ever, at any Games, so I think that will definitely help us later in the tournament when the matches get harder.

"We've played a couple of world championships, we partner up well - I'm on the backhand and Zac's on the forehand so I think we mix up pretty well, between his attack and my experience."

On celebrating his sixth appearance in the Games in 20 years, the 41-year-old from New South Wales said: "It's a funny feeling, but I still get nervous. It's fun, I still like to compete - and especially here in Australia. We don't get to play many times in front of our Aussie crowd - it's motivational watching people like Pilley play, with a huge crowd behind him - and hopefully it'll happen for us this week in the doubles. We're a little under the radar I think, which is good, but on the day we're still capable of doing well."

What is the motivation to keep coming back? "I'm coaching a lot now, but I miss that competitive side - I don't get to play too many events for myself any more - and also the fact that it's here on the Gold Coast in Australia. I remember how great it was playing in Melbourne. Level-wise I'm still OK to play, body is still pretty good. I'm still looking for another challenge and I'd love to get another medal with Zac.

"I'm not here to make the numbers up - I'm here because I still think we can do very well."

After resting during the singles, England's Jenny Duncalf & Adrian Waller both made their first Gold Coast appearances by beating New Zealanders Amanda Landers-Murphy & Zac Millar (pictured above in a devastating dive during the match) 11-5, 10-11, 11-5 - recovering from the loss of the second game after being ahead by taking the decider.

"Doubles always is fast and furious - it's definitely more frantic than singles and you can't afford to fall back on your feet at any time in the entire match," said Duncalf, a former world No.2 making her fourth appearance in the Games. "We were pleased to come back in the third strong.

"It's my fourth Games - but I'm still young at heart and on occasions like this and tournaments like the Commonwealth Games, I still get so excited - just watching, it's brilliant, but we've been chomping at the bit to get on court."

Waller added: "We seem to have been waiting a week or ten days - so it's great to get out there. There's nothing that beats being on court.

"We have managed to practise every day. We settled really well there (in the match) and are happy to move on to tomorrow. We've played bits and pieces over the summer - but this is the first time we've played competitively."

India's defending Women's gold medallists Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik squandered a lead in the first game to go 1/0 down before coming back strongly to beat Pakistanis Faiza Zafar & Madina Zafar 10-11, 11-0, 11-1.

"They definitely played a lot better than we expected," admitted Chinappa later. "We were 10-7 up so we obviously had no business losing that first game - but they had a few good shots and few winners.

"But we regrouped and decided enough is enough and wanted to finish it off as quickly as possible - and I think the scoreline shows that!"

When asked what it was like to return as the defending champions, Pallikal explained: "We're usually used to defending titles every year, but this is a four-year gap and a lot has changed over the last four years - the competition's higher than what it was four years' back.

"We can't take anything lightly so we're just excited to be here. Yes, we do want to defend our gold but I think the main thing for both of us is to enjoy the whole process of trying to win the whole event.

"When we got back home last time, there was a lot of spotlight on us, a lot of attention - which was great. We were just excited about it, not just personally but for squash in general.

"I guess for us to have won that gold told people that we were as good as any other athletes in the country and we can win a gold at the highest standard. It was huge for us - even today people call us the Commonwealth gold medallists so hopefully we can go back home next week with another gold so that people can call us double gold medallists!"

Men's singles gold medallist James Willstrop was also back in action, partnering Declan James to an 11-4, 11-4 win over British Virgin Islands' duo Joe Chapman & Neville Sorrentino.

"I've obviously come off a heavy few days and Declan's fresh," said Willstrop. "I'm now very keen to make sure I'm ready to play as well as I can - I've got to recover well and forget about yesterday.

"Having won yesterday, you're on a high - it's a lovely feeling. There's the physical aspect you need to get round - but there's no lack of motivation. I'm really up for this. We've worked so hard together. I feel it's quite comfortable to put an end to the matter of yesterday - this is a new thing now."

James, making his first appearance in the Games, added: "I was bringing in some fresh legs - I've been here for ten days now, training, preparing and seeing the boys battling in the singles so I've got the bit between my teeth now. If I can add a bit of freshness and sharpness to Jimbo's momentum then I'm hoping that will make for a potent combination."

Aussie doubles hope are being led by top men's seeds Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley, the reigning world champions. Pilley came away with gold both in 2010 and 2014 - in the former a mixed gold with Kasey Brown and in Glasgow the men's gold with David Palmer.

He and Cuskelly - who appears back to full strength after being forced to withdraw from the singles event with a leg injury - began their 2018 campaign in impressive style beating Fiji pair Sailesh Pala & Romit Parshottam (all four pictured above, pre-match) 11-3, 11-0.

Aussie compatriots Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (pictured below) were two of several players who played three matches on day one. Together the duo won two women's doubles clashes - the final one of which saw the fourth seeds resist a spirited attack from Samantha Cornett & Nikki Todd, the fifth seeds from Canada, to win 5-11, 11-9, 11-4.

2018 Commonwealth Games images courtesy of Toni Van der Kreek

Antipodean Success Predicted For Commonwealth Games Doubles

New Zealand and hosts Australia are tipped for gold success in the three Doubles Squash events in next month's Commonwealth Games, according to the seedings revealed today by the World Squash Federation.

The Men's, Women's and Mixed Doubles events will take place at Oxenford Studios in Gold Coast, Queensland, from 10-15 April - immediately following the two Singles championships from 5-9 April.

Kiwi Joelle King is seeded to win double Doubles gold - repeating the success she achieved in last August's WSF World Doubles Championships. Retaining the same partnerships, the 29-year-old world No.7 teams up with Amanda Landers-Murphy to head the seedings in the Women's Doubles, and is with world No.11 Paul Coll as favourites in the Mixed Doubles.
King was the hero of Team New Zealand in the 2010 Games in Delhi where she was a double Doubles medallist - winning Gold in the Women's and Bronze in the Mixed.

Alison Waters of England is expected to be a threat in both of King's Doubles bids. The 34-year-old Londoner, ranked 10 in the world, partners world No.17 Daryl Selby in the Mixed event, and links up with former world No.2 Jenny Duncalf in the Women's Doubles - and both pairings are the second seeds.

Waters was a Silver Mixed medallist in the 2014 Games in Glasgow, while 35-year-old Duncalf - who like Waters is making her fourth appearance in the Games since 2006 - will arrive in Gold Coast looking to better successive Silver medals in the Women's Doubles in 2010 and 2014.
Meanwhile it is the pairing of Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik, winners of the Women's Doubles crown in Glasgow four years ago, who will be bidding to retain Gold for India from the position of third seeds.

It is in the Men's Doubles that hosts Australia are expected to strike Gold. Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilleyare the reigning World Champions and expected to repeat this success in Gold Coast. The same pair won Bronze in the 2010 Games - but world No.20 Pilley will be seeking a third successive Doubles Gold after claiming Mixed Gold (with Kasey Brown) in 2010 in Delhi and partnering David Palmer to Men's Gold in 2014 in Glasgow.

Despite retiring from the Tour seven years ago, Palmer will be back in Games action for the sixth time since 1998. The 41-year-old phenomenon, winner of a record eight medals and the only double gold medallist in 2014, will be bidding for 2018 success with Zac Alexander in the Men's Doubles, where they are the fifth seeds.

Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban are seeded to provide Scotland their first Commonwealth Games medal success since 1998 as second favourites in the Men's Doubles.

Following the qualifying action in Pools, the top two pairs in each Pool will progress to the knockout stages - last 16 rounds for the Men's and Mixed Doubles, and quarter-finals for the Women.

A strong united delegation of senior officials of the World Squash Federation (WSF), joined by the Professional Squash Association (PSA), are in Gold Coast this week to attend the XXI Commonwealth Games, as the sport celebrates the 20th anniversary of its inclusion in the event.

Squash's participation at the Commonwealth Games is a powerful demonstration of where it stands today internationally: a well-established sport that is played worldwide on 50,000 courts in no less than 185 countries and one that regularly reinvents itself by placing a strong emphasis on innovation, inclusiveness and sustainability.

As Squash is vying to be included in the programme of the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, along with other high-profile international multi-sport events such as the World Games, Pan American Games and Asian Games have been providing the sport with a high-level testing ground for the latest showcourt, refereeing and broadcast technologies, as well as a platform to showcase the legacy that Squash is capable of leaving to the host cities and countries.

The Commonwealth Games have indeed left significant tangible legacies in Delhi, Glasgow, Kuala Lumpur and Manchester, where the Squash venues have become major centres or the sport's National Centres, providing access to high-performance training and competition for thousands of young people over the years.

The showcourt from the Melbourne Games in 2006 is still in use - and the state-of-the-art Gold Coast showcourt, plus the nine match courts, will be relocated locally to establish a new Australian National Centre in Carrara.

The Games have also showcased the development of referee Video Review, and a new generation of all-glass showcourts, which have since become an integral part of Squash competitions around the world.

To name a few examples of intangible legacy: Malaysia attributes its current major status on the international Squash scene to its debut in the home Commonwealth Games back in 1998; India can claim a similar effect, as the country's greatest success in the sport was achieved when Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal, initially perceived as outsiders, claimed the Women's Doubles title and India's first gold medal in the Commonwealth Games. This victory not only reinforced India's sporting profile internationally, but also created the new role models for all young women in the country.

In 2018, Squash makes its sixth appearance at the Commonwealth Games and the sport's truly international profile is on display in Australia. 105 players from 28 nations, including the host country, England, New Zealand, Pakistan and India, but also Lesotho, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Mauritius, Cayman Islands, Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, all came together in Gold Coast to do their best at this prestigious competition.

WSF President Jacques Fontaine said: "With the inclusion of Squash in the Commonwealth Games twenty years ago, the event became a major showcase for our sport. Today we want to take it even further. As our sport goes through a significant transformation inspired by new technologies, new ways of youth engagement through sport, new geographies joining in, and a better representation of women in sport, we hope to capitalise on this incredible journey and showcase why Squash has all the ingredients to be included in the Olympic Games programme."

PSA CEO Alex Gough commented: "With its ultra-modern glass showcourts on display here at the Commonwealth Games this week and the innovative plans we have for the upcoming Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games in October this year, Squash has been at the forefront of the innovation which enhances the spectator experience and allows for sustainable, cost-effective and adaptable infrastructure solutions."