Chinappa & Pallikal Guarantee India's First Commonwealth Games Medal by Howard Harding August 1, 2014
- A dramatic upset by Joshana Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal over
second-seeded Australian pair Kasey Brown & Rachael Grinham in
Friday's Women's Doubles semi-finals at Glasgow 2014 has guaranteed
India its first ever Commonwealth Games Squash medal.
The fifth-seeded
Indians recovered from a second game fight-back on the all-glass
showcourt at the Scotstoun Sports Campus in Glasgow to win 11-9, 7-11,
11-4 in 50 minutes.
"It's historic that
we've won a medal but we won't be satisfied until we get the gold
medal," said Pallikal, the 22-year-old from Chennai who was taken ill
on the eve of the 2010 Games in Delhi and unable to make her
eagerly-anticipated Commonwealth debut on home soil.
Underdogs Chinappa and Pallikal will face top-seeded English pair Jenny Duncalf & Laura Massaro in Saturday's final.
"Every match is
difficult but we have come this far and don't want to give up,"
continued Pallikal, ranked 10 in the world. "The English girls are
number one but anything can happen in doubles."
Chinappa explained the
bond between the two: "Last Commonwealth Games, Dipika was sick and we
had a really good chance. This time we were confident nothing would
happen - we were fit and well and both of us were doing our respective
training.
"We knew we would
cause some upsets and it is fantastic for our Squash to finally get
that first medal," added the 27-year-old world No21. "Hopefully the
government will help us more and promote the game more.
"The gold medal in any discipline is a fantastic achievement. This is our Olympics."
Duncalf and Massaro overcame compatriots Emma Beddoes & Alison Waters 11-7, 11-8 to earn their place in the final.
On what he described
as a "critical day", Australia's David Palmer survived two tough
battles to keep alive his hopes of a first ever Games gold medal - and
of extending his shared six-medal record since his debut in 1998.
The 38-year-old from
New South Wales, nicknamed 'The Marine', first partnered Rachael
Grinham to an 11-6, 11-9 Mixed Doubles win over Indians Dipika Pallikal
& Saurav Ghosal - then, less than an hour later, returned to the
spectacular showcourt with fellow New South Welshman Cameron Pilley to
beat local heroes Stuart Crawford & Greg Lobban 11-9, 11-5 in the
Men's Doubles quarter-finals.
The atmosphere in the
packed arena was something to behold - a sell-out crowd (in excess of
2,000) of partisan Scots cheering and stamping their feet in support of
underdogs Crawford & Lobban, the 8th seeds who upset the seventh
seeds to secure their place in the quarters.
It was neck and neck throughout the first game before the second seeded Aussies pulled away from 9-all.
After the earlier
mixed quarter-final victory, Palmer said: "We're just happy to get
through - we knew it was going to be tough, it was one of the hardest
quarter-finals.
"Dipika's very strong on the forehand and Saurav's one of the best movers in the game. This is a critical day.
"Rachael has great touch down the middle of the court - her deception down the middle really worked."
Grinham added: "Every
time we get on this court it's a great day. Each time I come into this
arena, I get goose-bumps - it's the best atmosphere I've ever played in.
"Doubles? I'm really loving it!"
Palmer's men's doubles
partner Cameron Pilley is also still in line for double gold. He and
Kasey Brown, winners of the mixed gold medal in Delhi, eased in to the
semis following an 11-1, 11-8 win over New Zealanders Amanda
Landers-Murphy & Paul Coll.
Brown, who was
celebrating her 29th birthday, said: "It's not a bad way to start your
birthday. It's great in front of all this crowd - I'm pretty happy at
the moment."
Pilley added: "We both
gelled together really well then, especially in the first game. We just
blew them away in the first and they warmed up in the second. But we
managed to reel off about six points on the trot."
England retain medal
hopes in all three events. Top seeds and defending champions Adrian
Grant & Nick Matthew took their anticipated place in the men's
semi-finals after beating Welshmen Peter Creed & David Evans 11-9,
11-4.
Team-mates Daryl Selby
& James Willstrop prevailed in the other half of the draw - taken
the full distance by Kiwi underdogs Lance Beddoes & Paul Coll
before winning 11-8, 6-11, 11-9.
"It was a war in all
respects really, it's just really intense and we had to hang in there
and be tough, try and play our best squash and keep it together in a
lot of momentum shifts," explained singles silver medallist Willstrop.
"They could have beaten us today and that is going to be able to happen every game, we know that.
"I can't really
explain doubles, it's like a leveller with different angles. There is a
whole different environment - but in badminton and tennis they have
doubles specialists so it feels like a whole different sport to us."
Willstrop's partner
Selby admitted: "James is a very good and calming influence on me - I
wish I could have him with me in the singles. It works well for us.
"They are both very good doubles players - they moved us out of position a lot. Paul Coll is an excellent athlete.
"I'm really enjoying playing doubles - it's great to be able to fight for a medal."
Beddoes said: "That's
about as close a doubles game as you can get. Doubles is just a
different game but some of the top players don't like it.
"I'll be back next time absolutely. I'm only 21 and Paul is only 22."
The day's play ended
on a high when Scotland's Alan Clyne & Harry Leitch ousted
Australians Ryan Cuskelly & Matthew Karwalski 11-7, 11-5, with
tumultuous support from the exuberant crowd.
The action on the
fourth day of 2014 Commonwealth Games Squash Doubles was perfectly -
and succinctly - summed by event MC Alan Thatcher: "Drama, excitement,
passion, skill noisy crowds all add up to a brilliant showcase for
doubles squash!"
RESULTS: Commonwealth Games Squash, Glasgow, Scotland
Men's Doubles quarter-finals: [1] Adrian Grant & Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [10] Peter Creed & David Evans (WAL) 11-9, 11-4 (45m) [4] Alan Clyne & Harry Leitch (SCO) bt [6] Ryan Cuskelly & Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 11-7, 11-5 (46m) [3] Daryl Selby & James Willstrop (ENG) bt [11] Lance Beddoes & Paul Coll (NZL) 11-8, 6-11, 11-9 (68m) [2] David Palmer & Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [8] Stuart Crawford & Greg Lobban (SCO) 11-9, 11-5 (45m)
Mixed Doubles quarter-finals: [1] Kasey Brown & Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [7] Amanda Landers-Murphy & Paul Coll (NZL) 11-1, 11-8 (24m) [3] Rachael Grinham & David Palmer (AUS) bt [5] Dipika Pallikal & Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-6, 11-9 (33m) [4] Alison Waters & Peter Barker (ENG) bt [6] Sarah Kippax & Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-5, 11-7 (39m) [2] Joelle King & Martin Knight (NZL) bt [10] Joshana Chinappa & Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) 7-11, 11-8, 11-6 (55m) Men's semi-final line-up: [1] Adrian Grant & Nick Matthew (ENG) v [4] Alan Clyne & Harry Leitch (SCO) [2] David Palmer & Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [3] Daryl Selby & James Willstrop (ENG)
Women's final line-up: [1] Jenny Duncalf & Laura Massaro (ENG) v [5] Joshana Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal (IND) Bronze medal play-off: [3] Emma Beddoes & Alison Waters (ENG) v [2] Kasey Brown & Rachael Grinham (AUS)
Mixed semi-final line-up: [1] Kasey Brown & Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [3] Rachael Grinham & David Palmer (AUS) [2] Joelle King & Martin Knight (NZL) v [4] Alison Waters & Peter Barker (ENG)
