Women's Final:                                    Finals photo gallery

Joshna Chinappa/Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt
Kasey Brown/Donna Urquhart (Aus)      11/10, 3/11, 11/10 (72m)

One for India

The first final of the day was a real thriller, as the Indian pairing of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal took the title, winning both of their games oin sudden death, in differing styles.

The first game was close, with the Indians maintaining a point or two gap through most of it, but they couldn't take two game balls as the Australians levelled at 10-all.

Kasey hit the ball straight back at herself ... let. On the replay Donna hit the ball back at herself ... stroke. The Australians weren't happy but the Indians were out of the door as quick as a flash after a 24-minute game.

The Aussies dominated the second, patrolling the service line and letting little get past them, forcing their opponents into rushed shots and it worked a treat as they took it 11/3.

The made a good start to the decider too, leading 4/1, but the Indians managed to work out how to get back into the game, and levelled at 6-all.

The rallies were getting longer now, neither pair willing to take the relatively few risks they'd been taking up to now. But as the match wore on, Dipika in particular started to go for a few more shots, trying to set up a winning position.

Let's take it from 8-all to the end of the 37-minute third game ...



Donna finds the nick with a slightly mishit long drop ... 9-8.
Dipika puts in a short drop on the forehand ... 9-all
Dipika pings a dropshot into the nick ... 10-9
Donna hits a dead length down the left ... 10-all
Three lets ...
Dipika climbs to a short lob, volleys it into the forehand nick, match.

One to India, two to go ...

Mixed Final:                                       Finals photo gallery

Jenny Duncalf / James Willstrop (Eng) bt
Alison Waters / Nick Matthew (Eng)              11/6, 11/6 (28m)

The all-Yorkshire title

No international rivalries at stake in the last of the finals - the last match of the tournament - but between the four of them Nick, James, Jenny and Alison have dominated the 'singles' Nationals in recent years, with nine titles between them, and with Commonwealth selection in mind they will all have wanted to put in good performances.



In the end though  it was Duncalf and Willstrop who were the steadier, taking early leads in both games and capitalising on their opponents' mistakes to complete a fairly comfortable win.

MENS A.xls   MENS B.xls   MENS PLAYOFFS.xls      MIXED.xls   

WOMENS A.xls   WOMENS B.xls  WOMENS PLAY OFFS.xls    WOMENS PLATE PLAY OFFS.xls
  

Women's Semi-Finals:

Chinappa/Pallikal (Ind) bt Duncalf/Waters (Eng) 6/11, 11/10, 11/3 (45m)
Brown/Urquhart (Aus) bt Bailey/Kippax (Eng)               11/5, 11/8 (32m)

Mixed Semi-finals:

Duncalf/Willstrop (Eng) bt Chinappa/Sandhu (Ind)       11/4, 11/2 (23m)
Waters/Matthew (Eng) bt David/Ong (Mas)         11/9, 8/11, 11/8 (56m)

Complete results listing

Mixed blessings for home hopefuls

The women's semis saw the demise of both English pairs as Indian pair Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal caused a sensational upset in taking out the top seeds.

Looking nervous in the first game the Indians hit too many tins - a cardinal sin in doubles - with the English duo looking very much the likely winners.

They led 6/2 in the second game too, but the Indians had steadied up now and they pulled their way back to level at 7-all, earned a game ball at 10-9, then saved match ball to take the game 11/10.



Joshna & Dipika were quite dominant in the third, racing to a 7/1 lead. A huge rally ensued, and when the English pair both went for the same ball in the middle, their rackets clashing, the writing was on the wall.

From 8/2 Joshna took them to match ball with two dropshots into the nick, then on 10/3 fired a crosscourt return of serve into the nick to send the world number three and five packing.

"That was a great performance, I'm proud of them.

"They were loose in the first, and the English were confident and were able to finish off the points. They tightened up in the second and didn't give away any openings, and in the third even if they did get any openings they couldn't afford to go for them as our girls were putting the ball away so well."



"Once we got a lead in the third we were setting the points up for each other, whoever got the opening would go for it!"

Meanwhile, Tania Bailey and Sarah Kippax were also faltering, as Australia's Kasey Brown and Donna Urquhart moved into a final matchup with the Indian duo.

There was revenge of sorts for Duncalf though, as she next teamed up with James Willstrop, and the Yorkshire pair eased through their mixed semi-final against Joshna and Harinderpal Sandhu in just 23 minutes.

Redemption for Waters too as she teamed up with Nick Matthew to topple top seeds Nicol David and Ong Beng Hee to set up an all-English final.

In what was the most entertaining match of the day, played in great spirit with all four players equally involved, the English National Champions held on to a diminishing lead to take the first, then capitalised on a good start to the decider.

"That's my fourth match today, it's nice to finish with a win and great to get to a final!"



"I've got a few war wounds from diving all over the place today, but I must apologise for hitting my partner on the head!"

Photo Gallery

Top 3 Doubles Tips from Fiona Geaves:



Good Positioning

Take it Early

Wide Crosscourts

"Enough squash for one day!"

Donna Urquhart

"Let's get physical!"
Alison Waters

"One down three to go"
Jenny Duncalf

"I've got a few bruises already!"
Kasey Brown

"We're hitting the nick from everywhere!"
Joshna & Dipika

"I survived a bit of a wobble but Granty was a star ..."

Nick Matthew

"My best shot so far was acing the world number two!"

Cameron Pilley

First casualty - Goughy clocked by partner's racket (which broke)

"I love mixed doubles, two against Nicol and I'm just there ..."

Ong Beng Hee

"It's all about understanding ..."

Azlan & Adnan

After a packed day one which saw a 33 matches in the three categories, day two will see the finalists decided with the quarters and/or semis taking place on the new wider doubles courts at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.

Home interest is still strong, despite shock defeats for some of England's fancies pairings yesterday, Scotland, India and Australia also have several pairs vying for medals, while Malaysia's sole pair are top seeds in the mixed.

First up are the women's quarter-finals featuring three English, two and a half Aussie (plus Jaclyn Hawkes), one Scottish and one Indian pair.

Women's Quarters:

Duncalf/Waters bt Gillen-Buchert/Aitken     11/4, 9/11, 11/3 (44m)
Chinappa/Pallikal bt Lloyd-Walter/Briggs           11/4, 11/10 (26m)
Brown/Urquhart bt Pittock/Camilleri                    11/8, 11/8 (28m)
Bailey/Kippax bt Francis/Hawkes                        11/3, 11/5 (25m)

Men's Semis

Matthew/Grant bt Pilley/Cuskelly                        11/7, 11/8 (54m)
Palmer/Boswell bt Clyne/Leitch                          11/5, 11/3 (40m)

Mixed Quarters
 
David/Ong bt Pittock/Frankcomb               8/11, 11/2, 11/7 (65m)
Duncalf/Willstrop bt Brown/Pilley             11/10, 7/11, 11/7 (61m)
Chinappa/Sandhu bt Francis/Cuskelly       9/11, 11/5, 11/7 (41m)
Waters/Matthew bt Pallikal/Ghosal                   11/9, 11/10 (28m)

Top English duos in Women's semis

England's top seeded pairs of Jenny Duncalf/Alison Waters and Tania Bailey/Sarah Kippax came through to the women's semis in contrasting styles.

Bailey & Kippax scored a comfortable enough win over the Aussie/Kiwi combination of Melody Francis/Jaclyn Hawkes, but the world numbers three and five were taken the distance by Scottish pair of Frania Gillen-Buchert & Lisa Aitken in a match that seemed to involve a fair bit of bumping and barging.

Bailey & Kippax now meet another Aussie pair, Kasey Brown and Donna Urquhart upholding the pecking order as the beat compatriots Amelia Pittock and Lisa Camilleri in straight games.

England were denied a trio of semi-finalists when Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal came from 4-9 down in the second game against Dom Lloyd-Walter & Lauren Briggs to secure a straight games win.

The first men's semi-final featured left-right pairings from England and Australia. Top seeds Nick Matthew and Adrian Grant prevailed 2-0 in just under the hour mark.

David Palmer and Stewart Boswell both won medals in the Manchester and Melbourne Commonwealth Games, and, playing together for the first time here they ended the run of Scotland's Alan Clyne & Harry Leitch in straight games to move into tomorrow's final.

The mixed quarter-finals yielded a variety of tactics ...

Amelia Pittock & Aaron Frankcomb surprised the top seeds with a barrage of shots down the middle of the court, but Nicol David and Ong Beng Hee fought back to take it in the decider.

Nick Matthew and Saurav Ghosal mainly stood and watched as Alison Waters and Dipika Pallikal slugged it out on the backhand side, the English National Champions winning in two games.

Joshna Chinappa & Harinderpal Sandhu mixed it up against Melody Francis & Ryan Cuskelly, coming from a game down to clinch a semi-final spot.

The final quarter-final was last on court, delayed by a 103-minute marathon as Malaysians Azlan & Adnan came from 8/4 down in the third to beat Essex boys Barker & Selby.

Once they got on court James Willstrop & Jenny Duncalf were in no hurry to advance to the semis, taking just over the hour deny Aussie pair Cameron Pilley & Kasey Brown in three games.

As the country prepares for the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010, on March 29th – 31st a series of squash doubles matches will be taking place at the National Squash Centre in preparation for this summers Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The event will feature England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Malaysia & India who will no doubt be sizing each other up in the build up to Delhi. Some of the biggest names in the world of squash will be reigniting International rivalries, no doubt the fiercest being between England and Australia.

England will no doubt be confident with a strong squad which includes World No.2 NICK MATTHEW, World No. 7 PETER BARKER, World No. 10 ADRIAN GRANT, World No. 12 DARYL SELBY Women's World No. 3 JENNY DUNCALF and Women's World No. 5 ALISON WATERS. and defending medalist from the 2006 Games , World No. 4 JAMES WILLSTROP who is looking forward to the challenge;

“The Commonwealth Games is a great event and after winning in Melbourne four years ago I can’t wait to add to my medal tally! Doubles is a unique game and we’ve been working hard as a team to prepare, the invitational tournament gives us the opportunity to play as England against teams we’ll be up against in October.”

England have a fantastic history in the Commonwealth Games, with Peter Nicol & Lee Beachill winning the gold medal in 2006, James Willstrop and Vicky Botwright winning the silver medal in the mixed doubles and Tania Bailey and Vicky Botwright winning bronze in the women’s doubles. No doubt England will be hoping to continue this trend and will be using the event to get some vital preparation before flying off to Delhi.

The event is completely FREE and is open for anyone to attend. So if you would like the chance to view Doubles squash at the very highest standard then come to the National Squash Centre from the 29th – 31st March 2010, 9:00- 22:00.