World doubles squash C'ship | Three Indian pairs move into the semis

08/16/2016

It was a fairly good day for the Indian pairs in the WSF World doubles squash championship with three of them ensuring semi-final berths by the end of the day's proceedings in Melbourne on Tuesday. Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal bt Aika Azman and Min Jie Teh of Malaysia 11-5, 11-5.

Joshna Chinappa was in great touch as she and Harinder Pal Sandhu wore down the top seed Australian pair of Rachael Grinham, a former world champion, and Cameron Pilley in three close games in Pool A. The team strategy of forcing Rachael to meet more of the returns paid off but just about, said the national coach Cyrus Poncha reporting his impressions from the venue. He said such was the closeness of the encounter that in the third game, both the teams were evenly matched until, at 7-7, India forged ahead to knit the game and the match.

After a gap, the Indian pair went on the court to display the same sparkling touch to down the New Zealand duo of Cambell Grayson and Amanda Landers-Murphy in straight games. With this, the Indian pair emerged unbeaten with one match left against the current topper David Palmker and Donna Urquhart of Australia. That match tomorrow will decide the Pool standing but both these teams have qualified for the semi-final.

The other mixed pair of Dipika and Saurav, seeded No.2, also had a fabulous day winning both their matches. Saurav was in sublime form in the match against the fancied Colombian pair of Catalina Palaez and Migul Angel Rodriguez and his aggressive approach proved to be the key. The second match was a lot closer against the Welsh pair of Jenny Haley and Joel Markin, though the Indians won in straight games. Here again, the Indian pair has won all its matches with one to go against the current leader New Zealand. Effectively both these teams have firmed their place in the semifinals.

The top Indian pair of Joshna and Dipika had only its last league match in doubles to play, and they made short work of Aika Azman and Min Jie Teh of Malaysia. The Indians with an all-win record at the top the Pool, and they made it to the last four. However, the men's pair of Harinder and Ramit Tandon were not that lucky. The team with three losses overall finished fourth in the Pool to make an exit.

The results:

Men's doubles: Pool A: Australia 2 (David Palmer and Alexander Zac bt Harinder Pal Sandhu and Ramit Tandon 11-5, 11-8; India 1 bt Malaysia 2 (Harinder Pal Sandhu and Ramit Tandon bt Sanjay Singh Chal and Ivan Yuen 6-11, 11-4, 11-10)

Women's doubles: Pool A: India 1 bt Malaysia 2 (Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal bt Aika Azman and Min Jie Teh 11-5, 11-5)

Mixed doubles: Pool A: India 2 bt Australia 1 (Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu bt Rachael Grinham and Cameron Pilley 9-11, 11-6, 11-9); India 2 bt New Zealand 2 (Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu bt Campbell Grayson and Amanda Landers-Murphy 11-9, 11-5)

Pool B: India 1 bt Colombia 1 (Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal bt Catalina Palaez and Migul Angel Rodriguez 11-4, 11-5); India 1 bt Wales 2 (Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal bt Jenny Haley and Joel Markin 11-9, 11-7)

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