Login
Back
Howard Harding and Gareth Evans report
The fourth day at the Commonwealth Games men’s, women’s and mixed doubles saw three English pairs advance to the semi-final stages.
And of those three, at least one will be guaranteed a medal, as Declan James and James Willstrop will now take on Daryl Selby and Adrian Waller in the last four of the men’s competition.
But while Laura Massaro and Sarah-Jane Perry made it through to the ladies’ semis, compatriots Jenny Duncalf and Alison Waters were knocked out by the top seeds from New Zealand.
Mixed doubles pair Waters and Selby were edged out by Australian opposition in their semi-final match but were afforded the opportunity to vie for a bronze medal in the play-off.
The biggest result of the day was unarguably that achieved in the men’s doubles by 7th seeds Daryl Selby and Adrian Waller, who sensationally knocked out the top seeds and reigning world champions, Cameron Pilley and Ryan Cuskelly.
The Aussie pair, widely considered one of the host's best gold medal hopes, failed to capitalise on a first-game lead and allowed Selby and Waller to clinch a massive 9-11, 11-8, 11-10 triumph in 73 minutes. Commentating on his partner's performance, Selby said:
"What can I say, my partner was phenomenal - he had a lot of balls to hit today. It's his first Commonwealth Games and he played phenomenally well. I was lucky enough to hit the winning shot but Waller was absolutely brilliant.
"As I said yesterday, as a pair, we're dangerous - but these boys are world champions and they're world champions for a reason: they're the best doubles pair, and they have been for a long time. A win over them, in Australia, is something very special.
"And it guarantees some medals for Team England!
"I'm delighted to be in two semi-finals on a personal note, for Team England - and we're going to have a doubles finalist again in the men’s!"
Waller added: "Yesterday was brutal for the whole team - no-one wanted to watch, everyone was on the edge of their seats. There were really no winners out of that - because everyone put their heart and soul into it.
"But we backed up well afterwards - last night Daryl and I played really well and I think we took the confidence from that into today's match. They're a solid pair and didn't give us much at all.
To get through on sudden death ...... I didn't want to lose two in a row - that would have been too much!
"But I'm so happy for us and Team England.”
The match followed another English win, by No. 4 seeds Declan James and men’s singles gold medalist James Willstrop, who mounted a remarkable comeback after going a game down to opponents, Vikram Malhotra and Ramit Tandon, before prevailing 10-11, 11-8 11-5. Tomorrow (Saturday) they will face Selby and Waller for a place in the final.
In the women’s doubles, as in the men’s, seven was the lucky number for Team England - with No. 7 seeds Laura Massaro and Sarah-Jane Perry emulating Selby and Waller to reach the last four.
Their straight-games victory (11-8, 11-10) over Malaysian 9th seeds Rachel Arnold and Sivasangari Subramaniam was completed in 25 minutes. The 3rd-seeded pair from India, Joshna Chinappa and mixed-doubles finalist Dipika Pallikal, now stand between Massaro and singles runner-up Perry for a place in Sunday’s final.
Rather unusually, another women’s quarter-final fixture saw the top two seeded pairs compete against each other. New Zealanders Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy, ranked at No. 1, found themselves drawn against second seeds Jenny Duncalf and Alison Waters after failing to win their qualifying pool group, but made it clear that they were fully back on track after dismissing their English rivals 11-10, 11-5.
The mixed doubles had already reached the semi-final stage, but this was to prove the round in which second seeds Waters and Selby bowed out. Undoubtedly buoyed by the crowd, home players Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley recovered from the loss of the first game to triumph 10-11, 11-7, 11-7 in 55 minutes.
But the beaten Team England pair still have the opportunity to strike bronze, and, to that end, will play off against reigning world mixed-double champion Kiwis Joelle King and Paul Coll.
Results
Men's Doubles quarter-finals:
[7] Daryl Selby & Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [1] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS) 9-11, 11-8, 11-10 (73m)
[4] Declan James & James Willstrop (ENG) bt [11] Vikram Malhotra & Ramit Tandon (IND) 10-11, 11-8, 11-5 (48m)
[5] Zac Alexander & David Palmer (AUS) bt [3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-9, 6-11, 11-7 (64m)
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [10] Mohd Syafiq Kmal & Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 (52m)
Women's Doubles quarter-finals:
[7] Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [9] Rachel Arnold & Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 11-8, 11-10 (25m)
[3] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) bt [5] Samantha Cornett & Nikki Todd (CAN) 7-11, 11-5, 11-9 (39m)
[4] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt [6] Tesni Evans & Deon Saffery (WAL) 9-11, 11-10, 11-3 (48m)
[1] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt [2] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG) 11-10, 11-5 (24m)
Mixed Doubles semi-finals:
[5] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [1] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) 9-11, 11-8, 11-10 (53m)
[4] Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [2] Alison Waters & Daryl Selby (ENG) 10-11, 11-7, 11-7 (55m)
Semi-finals
Men’s semi-final line-up:
[7] Daryl Selby & Adrian Waller (ENG) v [4] Declan James & James Willstrop (ENG)
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) v [5] Zac Alexander & David Palmer (AUS)
Women's semi-final line-up:
[7] Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [3] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND)
[1] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) v [4] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS)
Mixed Final line-up:
[5] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [4] Donna Urquhart & Cameron Piled (AUS)
Bronze medal play-off:
[1] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) v [2] Alison Waters & Daryl Selby (ENG)
