England set for double Gold Coast gold in Commonwealth Games singles

Story by World Squash Federation

England is predicted to win singles gold in both squash events in next month's Commonwealth Games in Australia for the first time, following the revelation that Nick Matthew and Laura Massaro are top seeds in the men's and women's events, respectively, based upon the March PSA rankings.

Squash is celebrating its sixth appearance in the Commonwealth Games since making its debut in 1998 in Malaysia. The Men's and Women's Singles Championships will take place at Oxenford Studios in Gold Coast, Queensland, from 5-9 April, followed by the Men's, Women's and Mixed Doubles events from 10-15 April.

Matthew is bidding for a third successive gold in his final season as a professional. The 37-year-old former world No.1 from Sheffield, a three-time World Champion, reached the semi-finals in his first appearance in the Games in 2006 in Melbourne before striking gold in 2010 and 2014 in Delhi and Glasgow, respectively.

"The Commonwealth Games has been a key landmark in my career as a whole and also in this final season," said the distinguished Yorkshireman. "It's something I earmarked to prepare and peak for a long way out and am getting more and more excited the closer it's getting.

"Winning Gold in both Delhi and especially Glasgow (with the circumstances of my hampered preparation for knee surgery) are right up there with the highlights of my career."

"I'm hoping my preparation is a lot less stressful this time and I go in to Gold Coast with the very best possibilities of winning Gold."

Massaro, also a former world No.1 and World Champion, is marking her third appearance in the Games. The 34-year-old from Preston reached the quarter-finals in 2010 and celebrated Silver in 2014 - on both occasions losing out to Malaysia's formidable Nicol David. Massaro said:

"I'm really excited to be playing in my 3rd Commonwealth Games. It's an honour to be part of Team England travelling to the Gold Coast."

"I have three silver medals from previous Games and obviously adding gold to that collection would mean a great deal. However, I'm training as well as I can in the lead up and competition is fierce this year so I want to go to the Games and do everything I can to achieve the best position I can. Whatever happens from there I will be very proud of those performances."

New Zealand appear to represent England's biggest double gold threat with Kiwis Paul Coll and Joelle King, ranked 11 and 7, respectively, in the world, both the second seeds. Coll, 25, made his debut in the 2014 Games, while 29-year-old King was a double Doubles medallist in 2010 and achieved Singles bronze in the Glasgow Games.

Players from 28 nations will be competing in the two singles competitions, the full draws for which (including seeding) are as follows.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) bye
Ian Rukunya (UGA) v Stephen Henry (FIJ)
Xavier Koenig (MRI) v Yusif Mansaray (SLE)
[16] Vikram Malhotra (IND) v Manda Chilambwe (ZAM)
[12] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bye
Evan Williams (NZL) v Jacob Kelly (CAY)
Othneil Bailey (SVG) v James Dalidi (KEN)
[6] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bye
[7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bye
Ernest Jombla (SLE) v Klaus Pragassen (SEY)
Kale Wilson (TRI) v Daniel Zammit-Lewis (MLT)
[15] Peter Creed (WAL) v Lewis Walters (JAM)
[10] Campbell Grayson (NZL) v Jason-Ray Khalil (GUY)
Kevin Moran (SCO) v Jules Snagg (SVG)
Farhan Zaman (PAK) v Joe Chapman (IVB)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bye
[3] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bye
Christopher Binnie (JAM) v Jason Doyle (SVG)
Micah Franklin (BER) v James Fayia (SLE)
[11] Joel Makin (WAL) v Sailesh Pala (FIJ)
[13] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v Rex Hedrick (AUS)
Sunny Seth (GUY) v Shawn Simpson (BAR)
Tayyab Aslam (PAK) v Neville Sorrentino (IVB)
[8] Alan Clyne (SCO) bye
[5] Daryl Selby (ENG) bye
Madako Junior Suari (PNG) v Michael Kawooya (UGA)
Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) v Romit Parshottam (FIJ)
[9] Greg Lobban (SCO) bye
[14] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) v Cameron Stafford (CAY)
Ivan Yuen (MAS) v Mandela Patrick (TRI)
Christian Navas (GIB) v Kelvin Ndhlovu (ZAM)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bye

Women's 1st round:
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bye
Amanda Haywood (BAR) v Caroline Laing (CAY)
Mihiliya Methsarani (SRI) bye
[11] Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bye
[14] Lisa Aitken (SCO) bye
Aifa Azman (MAS) bye
Taylor Fernandes (GUY) bye
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) bye
[7] Donna Urquhart (AUS) bye
Faiza Zafar (PAK) bye
Dianne Kellas (MLT) bye
[16] Christine Nunn (AUS) bye
[13] Nikki Todd (CAN) bye
Elizabeth Mulwa (KEN) bye
Alison Mua (FIJ) bye
[4] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bye
[3] Nicol David (MAS) bye
Colette Sultana (MLT) v Samantha Hennings (CAY)
Mary Fung-A-Fat (GUY) bye
[10] Samantha Cornett (CAN) bye
[9] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) bye
Charlotte Knaggs (TRI) bye
Meagan Best (BAR) bye
[5] Alison Waters (ENG) bye
[8] Joshna Chinappa (IND) bye
Lynette Vai (PNG) bye
Eilidh Bridgeman (CAY) bye
[15] Tamika Saxby (AUS) bye
[12] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bye
Alison Thomson (SCO) bye
Deon Saffery (WAL) v Madina Zafar (PAK)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) bye