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arrow pointing leftBack 01 August 17 - by Chris Peddy

Duncalf and Waters fight back to beat Massaro and Perry at World Doubles

Laura Massaro, Alison Waters, Sarah-Jane Perry and Jenny Duncalf in action on the first day at the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships in Manchester

Jenny Duncalf and Alison Waters fought back from 1-0 down to beat Laura Massaro and Sarah-Jane Perry on the first day of the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships in Manchester.

There were early wins for all of England’s pairings, though Tom Richards and Daryl Selby were beaten by Australia’s Zac Alexander and David Palmer.

Waters and Duncalf are now all but through the quarter finals, having thrashed South Africa’s Cheyna Tucker and Alexandra Fuller 11/1, 11/3 earlier in the day.

Massaro and Perry dominated the initial stages of the match and took the first game 11/7. They then found themselves 9/7 up in the second before a late charge from Duncalf and Waters put them 10/9 up with a game ball. Waters then put the ball into the tin to set up sudden death at 10/10 – with a game and match ball – before she and Duncalf took the second 11/10. A quick start took them 5/0 up in the third before they claimed the victory with an 11/6 scoreline.

Waters, 34, said: “They were the better team in the first game and then were up in the second. We responded really well and knew we had to come out firing otherwise they were going to run away with it.”

Adrian Waller and Victoria Lust in action in the mixed doubles

Duncalf, 34, said: “We gave ourselves self-belief even though they were the stronger team. We remained positive and sneaked the second game and then the ball was a bit more dead in the third and I was able to put away some drop shots. It was a good game from both teams and was very competitive.”

Massaro and Perry almost suffered a scare in their earlier match as Scotland’s Lisa Aitken and Carrie Hallam nearly forced the match to a deciding third game. Having won the first 11/7, Massaro and Perry found themselves 9/7 down in the second as the intensity of the rallies ramped up.

The English duo had targeted the 19-year-old Hallam from the beginning, who had struggled to navigate round the tall frame of Perry on the forehand side. They clawed the score back to a sudden death 10/10 and on match ball the referee called “No let” on an appeal from Hallam to give Massaro and Perry an 11/7, 11/10 win.

After the match, Massaro, 33, said: “It’s a bit different getting into competitive doubles, the intensity is very different from practice. I felt like we did pretty well to come out with a 2-0 win considering we didn’t feel like we played the best we could.”

Perry, 27, said: “We managed to keep it solid from 9/7 down. I hit a few errors so I’ll try to cut those down. It’s nice to get a win on the board.”

Daryl Selby and Tom Richards against David Palmer and Zac Alexander, of Australia

Duncalf and Waters had also made a winning start to the tournament, thrashing South Africa’s Cheyna Tucker and Alexandra Fuller 11/1, 11/3.

Waters and Daryl Selby, the only England players to enter two draws, convincingly dispatched Columbia’s Laura Tovar and Juan Varoas 11/7, 11/7 in their group opener. Selby, 33, said: “We were solid and got off to a good start. The girls in the other two teams are very experienced so it should be a good test.”

They face Piedro Schweertman and Natalie Grinham (Netherlands), David Baillargeon and Nikole Todd (Canada) and 2014 Commonwealth Games mixed doubles gold medal winners David Palmer and Rachael Grinham of Australia in their remaining Pool D matches.

In the men’s draw, Selby and his partner Tom Richards recovered from a slow start, where they went 5/0 down in the first game, to beat Malaysia’s Mohd Syafiq Kamal and world junior champion Eain Yow Ng 11/7, 11/4.

They were then beaten later in the day by Australia’s David Palmer – winner of two gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games – and Zac Alexander 11/9, 11/8. Of the defeat, Selby said: “We had a good start and I thought we played well. There was only one or two rallies in it and I knew it would be close. Whether we finish first or second in the group is not important because I think if we get through to the knockout stages it’s anyone’s game.”

England’s other pairing of Declan James and James Willstrop had to wait until the evening to play their first match in the men’s draw. A dominant display produced an 11/7, 11/6 win to give them a strong start in Pool D.

And Adrian Waller and Victoria Lust made a winning start in Pool A, beating South Africa’s Christo Potgieter and Milnay Louw 11/5, 11/9.

Come and support your England players at the National Squash Centre tomorrow, play begins at 11am.

James Willstrop and Declan James in the men's doubles draw

Day one full results

Men's

M-A [1] Clyne / Lobban (Sco) 2-0 Malhotra / Mangaonkar (Ind) 11/1, 11/6 (29m)
M-A Bennett / Schweertman (Ned) 2-1 [8] Adnan / Yuen (Mas) 11/7, 1/11, 11/8 (50m)
M-A [1] Clyne / Lobban (Sco) 2-0 [8] Adnan / Yuen (Mas) 11/3, 11/8 (35m)
M-A Bennett / Schweertman (Ned) 2-0 Malhotra / Mangaonkar (Ind) 11/6, 11/6 (28m)

M-B [2] Cuskelly / Pilley (Aus) 2-0 Beddoes / Williams (Nzl) 11/7, 11/10 (32m)
M-B [7] Creed / Makin (Wal) 2-0 Brits / Potgieter (Rsa) 11/8, 11/3 (25m)
M-B [2] Cuskelly / Pilley (Aus) 2-0 [7] Creed / Makin (Wal) 11/7, 11/6 (32m)
M-B Beddoes / Williams (Nzl) 2-0 Brits / Potgieter (Rsa) 11/10, 11/6 (30m)

M-C [3] Alexander / Palmer (Aus) 2-0 Herrera / Vargas (Col) 11/8, 11/4 (27m)
M-C [6] Richards / Selby (Eng) 2-0 Kamal / Ng (Mas) 11/7, 11/4 (36m)
M-C [3] Alexander / Palmer (Aus) 2-0 [6] Richards / Selby (Eng) 11/9, 11/8 (42m)
M-C Herrera / Vargas (Col) 2-1 Kamal / Ng (Mas) 4/11, 11/6, 11/7 (41m)

M-D [4] Coll / Grayson (Nzl) 2-0 Kempsell / Moran (Sco) 11/9, 11/6 (44m)
M-D [5] James / Willstrop (Eng) 2-0 Baillargeon / Delierre (Can) `11/7, 11/6 (27m)

Women's

W-A [1] King / Landers-Murphy (Nzl) 2-0 Grinham / vd Heijden (Ned) 11/5, 11/4 (16m)
W-A [1] King / Landers-Murphy (Nzl) 2-1 [8] Cornett / Todd (Can) 5/11, 11/5, 11/9 (37m)

W-B [2] Chinappa / Pallikal (Ind) 2-0 Pelaez / Tovar (Col) 11/4, 11/5 (16m)
W-B [2] Chinappa / Pallikal (Ind) 2-0 [7] Evans / Saffery (Wal) 11/8, 11/7 (20m)

W-C [3] Grinham / Urquhart (Aus) 2-0 Cardwell / Nunn (Aus) 11/7, 11/5 (18m)
W-C [6] Arnold / David (Mas) 2-1 [3] Grinham / Urquhart (Aus) 11/10, 9/11, 11/8 (38m)

W-D [4] Massaro / Perry (Eng) 2-0 Aitken / Hallam (Sco) 11/6, 11/10 (29m)
W-D [5] Duncalf / Waters (Eng) 3-0 Fuller / Tucker (Rsa) 11/1, 11/3 (13m)
W-D [5] Duncalf / Waters (Eng) 2-1 [4] Massaro / Perry (Eng) 7/11, 11/10, 11/6 (39m)

W-D Aitken / Hallam (Sco) 2-0 Fuller / Tucker (Rsa) 11/7, 11/8 (26m)

Mixed

X-A Kempsell / Aitken (Sco) 2-0 Makin / Saffery (Wal) 11/3, 11/3 (29m)
X-A [8] Waller / Lust (Eng) 2-0 Potgieter / Milnay (Rsa) 11/5, 11/9 (29m)

X-B Syafiq / Arnold (Mas) 2-1 Delierre / Cornett (Can) 11/9, 2/11, 11/7 (39m)
X-B [7] Creed / Evans (Wal) 2-0 Bennett / vd Heijden (Ned) 11/6, 11/6 (23m)

X-C [6] Malhotra / Chinappa (Ind) 2-0 Leiper / Hallam (Sco) 11/5, 11/6 (22m)
X-C Millar / Landers-Murphy (Nzl) 2-0 Herrera / Pelaez (Col) 11/3, 11/5 (14m)

X-D Baillargeon / Todd (Can) 2-1 Schweertman / Grinham (Ned) 6/11, 11/6, 11/10 (39m)

X-D [5] Selby / Waters (Eng) 2-0 Vargas / Tovar (Col) 11/7, 11/7 (18m)

For photos, draws, schedules, live streaming and more visit the official website at: http://wsfworlddoubles.com

Follow the action on Twitter with @WSFworlddoubles.