Tougher Day For Kiwis At Squash World Doubles Champs

From almost total success on day one to much tougher results on the second day for New Zealand at the 2017 WSF World Doubles Squash Championships in Manchester with two wins and three losses in pool play.

In arguably the biggest upset of the tournament so far the top seeds and defending champion Kiwi mixed pair of Joelle King and Paul Coll were beaten in their first match of the tournament in a lengthy battle by Scottish ninth seeds Lisa Aitken and Harry Leitch in three games 7-11 11-5 9-11 in 48 minutes.

However King and Coll were able to come back in the second match to take that in straight games over a South African pair. The loss puts some pressure on King and Coll in the five-team pool as they now face the English pair of Adrian Walker and Victoria Lust followed by the Welsh team of Deon Saffery and Joel Makin in contests they must win to cement a top two spot in Mixed Pool A.

“Joelle and Paul came up against a polished and solid Scottish team and were surprised a little bit, but they came back well after dropping the first and then in the third it was pretty close. They were frustrated after the loss and played well in their second match. They have a couple of tough games to try and top their pool. It was a little bit tough for everyone today, but we knew that was going to happen,” said New Zealand coach Glen Wilson.

Ranked 11th in the world in singles Coll combined with Campbell Grayson for another win in their men’s doubles. Together they accounted for English fifth seeds Declan James and James Willstrop in straight games. The win was particularly satisfying considering the Kiwis were down 3-8 in the first game and then reeled off seven points in a row. According to coach Wilson the team of Coll and Grayson is playing better than last year where they won a bronze medal.

“They are looking stronger this year. Campbell has decided to concentrated only on the men’s doubles and he’s fit and playing well. They are looking good as a team.,” said Wilson.

In other results saw Evan Williams and Lance Beddoes defeated by seven seeds Peter Creed and Joel Making of Wales while Amanda Landers-Murphy and Zac Millar lost their mixed match to sixth seeded Indian pair Joshna Chinappa and Vikram Malhotra 11-9 11-9.

Day three of the tournament features final round robin matches and some quarter-finals which could see Coll potentially play in four matches. One Kiwi pair is already booked through to the quarters. King and Landers-Murphy have their play-off spot confirmed and will face the Welsh team of Evans and Deon Saffery.

Fifty pairs from 12 nations are taking part in the world which runs August 1- 5 and helps decide seedings towards next year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Day 2 results:

[7] Peter Creed/Joel Makin (WAL) bt 10] Evan Williams/Lance Beddoes (NZL) 11-7 11-8

[4] Paul Coll/Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [5] Declan James/James Willstrop (ENG) 11-9 11-6

[9] Lisa Aitken/Harry Leitch (SCO) bt [1] Joelle King/Paul Coll (NZL) 11-7 5-11 11-9

[1] Joelle King/ Paul Coll (NZL) bt Milnay Louw/Christo Potgieter (RSA) 11-6 11-7

[6] Joshna Chinappa/Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt [11] Amanda Landers-Murphy/Zac Millar (NZL) 11-9 11-9

Day 3 schedule (UK times)

14:30 - [4] Paul Coll/Campbell Grayson (NZL) v [13/16] David Baillargeon/Shawn Delierre (CAN)

11:00 - [1] Joelle King/Paul Coll (NZL) v [9] Deon Saffery/Joel Makin (WAL)

16:00 - [1] Joelle King/Paul Coll (NZL) v [8] Victoria Lust/Adrian Waller (ENG)

11:45 - [3] Donna Urquhart/Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [11] Amanda Landers-Murphy/Zac Millar (NZL)       

16:45 - [11] Amanda Landers-Murphy/Zac Millar (NZL) v [17/20] Carrie Hallam/Kevin Moran (SCO)

Plus some tbc quarter-finals: