|
|
 Second World Doubles Championships
Chennai, India, 13-17 December 2004
17-Dec, Day Five, FINALS:
Men's :
Byron Davis / Cameron White
(Aus) bt
Ritwik Bhattacharya / Saurav Ghosal
(Ind) 9/4, 9/3, 8/9, 9/7 (73m)
Women's :
Natalie Grinham / Rachael Grinham
(Aus) bt
Louise Crome / Lara Petera (Nzl)
9/7, 9/4, 9/2 (29m)
Mixed :
David Palmer / Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt
Shelley Kitchen / Glen Wilson (Nzl) 11/8, 9/8, 9/8 (45m)
Aussies pick up Golden Hat-Trick
Australia collected Gold in all three finals of the World Doubles in
Chennai, with Rachael Grinham picking up two.
David Palmer and Rachael Grinham, the top seeds in the
mixed event, won three close games against their Kiwi opposition before
Rachael went back on court with sister Natalie to once again
beat New Zealand opposition in the Women's final, maintaining their record
of not dropping a single game during the event.
Hopes of a home victory in the men's final were then dashed as Byron Davis
and Cameron White completed the Australian clean sweep, beating local
heroes Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghosal in four games.
It was a good day for New Zealand too, as the Kiwis picked up three
medals, two silvers plus a bronze for Shelley Kitchen & Tamsyn Leevey in
the women's 3rd/4th play-off.
Aussies Rule in Chennai ...
Eswar
Ramachandran reports, plus Linda's View
|
|
16-Dec, Day Four, SEMI-FINALS:
Men's Doubles:
History for India as
top seeds crash out ...
Linda Davie reports from Chennai
Bhattacharya & Ghosal
(Ind) bt Crombie & Quick (Usa)
9/5, 10/11,
11/9, 9/4 (65m)
Two unexpected semi-finalists, but India's Youth & Experience partnership
and Team USA have amply demonstrated their doubles skills this week, and
both were well worth their chance to reach the world final.
 The
Indians got off to a good start, taking the first 9/5, but the Americans
started concentrating their fire on youngster Saurav, and it paid
dividends as they took the second 11/10.
Ritwik was offering plenty of encouragement to his young partner, but he
soon became the target of the Americans' attention. The Indians held game
ball in the third, were pegged back and called 'set 3' before taking it
11/9 to edge ahead.
In the fourth the home team forged an early 5-0 lead, and the crowd went
wild as they took the game 9/4 to reach the final.
"Who's on court next," asked Ritwik at
the end. "Who cares ... we're in the final!" retorted the young Saurav.
Top seeds shocked
Davis & White (Aus) bt Palmer &
Ricketts (Aus)
9/4, 9/6, 4/9, 11/10 (99m)
 There
will be an Australian pair in the final, but it won't be the top seeds, as
Cameron White and Byron Davis pulled off the shock of the tournament so
far.
Davis stuck to the game plan in the first, shouting up when he needed his
team-mate to retrieve short balls, and they took it 9/4. In the second
David Palmer started working the forehand side, but Davis & White held
their ground, with Cameron in particular retrieving everything the top
seeds could throw his way. 9-6 and the favourites were two down.
The top seeds demanded a change of ball at the start of the third, and
after a lengthy discussion with the referee they were granted their
request and went on to pull a game back, 9/4.
The fourth was a long, hard, affair. Palmer received a conduct warning for
racket abuse early on, and Ricketts told the ref "you are allowed to say
no let!"
It reached 8-all, then 10-all, but finally it was the underdogs who won
the crucial point to go through to face the Indians in the final.
|
Mixed
Doubles:
Kiwis beat Aussies in Mixed Thriller ...
Kitchen & Wilson (Nzl) bt N Grinham & Jenson (Aus)
9/6, 7/9, 3/9, 9/7, 11/10 (72m)
Palmer & Grinham (Aus) bt Desira & White (Aus)
9/5, 9/3, 9/8 (43m)
Shortly after losing out in the women's semi-final, Shelley Kitchen
took to the court with Glen Wilson to take on Natalie Grinham
and Dan Jenson in the mixed. Tired or not, Kitchen and partner
started well, with Shelley playing on the left, concentrating their fire
on little Natalie, who had a much easier time in her women's semi-final,
to take the first 9/6.
The Kiwis seemed to have the better tactics, with the Australians making
too many mistakes. At 2-all Jenson wanted a stroke, but got only a let,
then quickly fell 6-3 down. A change of sides did the trick, taking them
to 8-6, at which point the Kiwis decided to change sides too! Too late, as
the Aussies levelled it, 9/7.
This match showed the art of good mixed doubles, and the next two games
were traded, setting up a thrilling fifth game which was eventually won in
the closest manner possible by the Kiwi pair ... 11/10!
No upsets in the second semi-final as David Palmer and Rachael Grinham
eased past their compatriots, tested only in the third game. |
Women's
Doubles:
Grinhams move into Women's final
Grinham & Grinham
(Aus) bt David & Chiu (Mas)
9-4, 9-5, 9-4 (21m)
Crome & Petera (Nzl) bt Kitchen & Leevey (Nzl)
11/10, 11/8, 7/9, 9/7 (66m)
Australia's top seeds Rachael & Natalie
Grinham moved smoothly into the women's final with a 3/0 win over
Malaysia's second seeded Nicol David & Triciah Chuah. There they meet
Louise Crome and Lara Petera, who overturned the national pecking
order, beating fellow Kiwis Shelley Kitchen & Tamsyn Leevey in four games.
Full results |
 Team
USA loving India
from Linda Davie in Chennai
I had breakfast with the American team this morning, before the boys,
Preston Quick & Jamie Crombie, take on the local favourites in the
semi-finals this afternoon.
They're over here without a coach, so they're very much working as a team
- when Latasha Khan & Louisa Hall aren't playing they're
encouraging the boys in their games and vice versa. And at other times
they're working hard practicing, and relaxing, together.
They're in good spirits, have a good handle on the event and are keen to
show the world that they're good doubles players. Mission accomplished,
I'd say.
 I
asked Jamie the secret of their success. "It's all down to my good
management skills," said the self-appointed senior partner, to a round of
laughter from the table. "He's a good story-teller, that's for sure,"
added the girls.
On court they're playing what I call 'sensible' doubles. Nothing too
fancy, none of the spectacular, just steady, basic squash and it's proving
very effective. Preston is the "Mr Steady" of the team, keeping the ball
tight, waiting for mistakes or opportunities to attack. Jamie controls the
tactics and tempo of the matches. It's a good combination.
In the final qualifying match the boys were taken to five by the Hong Kong
team, the closest they've come to losing yet. "But the girls were on hand
to offer us some pointers between games," said Preston, "and it certainly
helped." After 82 minutes they won, to top their group.
The quarter-final against the Zaman cousins, Mansoor and Shahid, was
close. 57 minutes for four close games, but Team USA won through to the
semis, and if team spirit is anything to go by they have every chance of
going all the way.
|
|
|
15-Dec, Day Three,
QUARTERS:
 Indians
& Americans storm into Semis
The home pairing of Ritwik
Bhattacharya & Saurav Ghosal delighted local fans once again, as they
edged past Australians Dan Jenson & Cameron Pilley in a 71-minute
five-game quarter-final.
Indians on a winning streak
They meet the USA's Preston Quick & Jamie Crombie for a place in
the final, after the Americans, seeded 5/8 like the Indians, beat
Pakistan's Zaman cousins Mansoor & Shahid in four games - major
achievements for two emerging squash nations.
Whoever wins that one, they will face an Australian pairing in the final,
as top seeds David Palmer & Anthony Ricketts and Byron Davis &
Cameron White both completed straight games victories.
Aussie Rules in Mixed
In the mixed doubles quarter-finals it was the Australians who again ruled
the day. David Palmer & Rachael Grinham took just 16 minutes to
reach the semis, where they face compatriots Diane Desira & Cameron
White. Natalie Grinham & Dan Jenson also won, and meet the only
non-Aussie pairing of Glen Wilson & Shelley Kitchen, who also
scored a quickfire win, just 17 minutes. |
|
|
|
14-Dec, Day Two, Final
Qualifying: Aussie Seeds On Top
Australia's
top seeds David Palmer and Anthony Ricketts won their deciding
match against the hosts' Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghosal in
straight games to secure top spot in Men's Pool A, but the home fans were
delighted that the local pairing progressed to the quarter-finals.
Cheers to India
 Women's top seeds Rachael and Natalie Grinham also clinched top
spot in their pool, with a third straight games win. In the last round of
matches Palmer and Rachael teamed up to complete victory in their
mixed pool, meaning another hectic schedule for the rest of the week. In
all Australia has seven pairs through to the playoffs.
Kiwi Silver Guaranteed
 It was also a good day for New Zealand, with all four pairs coming
through to qualify, and with Shelley Kitchen and Tamsyn Leevey squaring
off against compatriots Lara Petera and Louise Crome in the last four at
least a silver medal is guaranteed. In the other women's semi the Grinhams
face Nicol David and Triciah Chuah.
Last-gasp failure for Malaysians
It was another mixed day for Malaysia, with their women's and one
mixed team qualifying, but the men's pairing of Ong Beng Hee and Azlan
Iskandar, the second seeds, crashed out of the competition with two
defeats today. And in the last match of the evening, Beng Hee and Nicol
David missed out on qualification as they went down 9-8 in the fifth to
Diane Desira and Cameron White. The match, the longest of the event so far
at 89 minutes, was a decider for qualification. |
|
|
13-Dec, Day ONE:
Grinhams off
to a Flyer
 13-Dec:
The competition got under way at 11am local time, and Australia's
Grinham sisters, Rachael and Natalie, wasted no time in opening their
challenge with a 9/6, 9/1, 9/2 win over the USA's Louisa Hall and
Latasha Khan in just 15 minutes.
|
|
|
FULL RESULTS
Linda Davie talks to
the finalists ...
 “Saurav
played fantastic, out of his mind. I wasn't on fire, and
eventually they realised that and started playing on the
forehand, so Saurav had to compensate for me, which he did
brilliantly.
“We've worked hard on singles, but haven't practiced much
doubles. In fact, we only started three days before the
tournament!
“Our ambition was just to get out of the group, so to be in
the final is fantastic. ”
Ritwik Bhattacharya
“That was one of my best performances ever ...”
Saurav Ghosal
Sadly the interview was cut short when Saurav's grandmother
phoned to congratulate him !! |
“Wow, that was a tough game, a
real mental and physical battle. But I'm glad we stuck in
there, it's a great win.”
Cameron White
“I'm really pleased for Cameron. He wasn't meant to be here,
he
was a late replacement, so obviously we're delighted to make the
final!”
Byron Davis |
|
Chennai Chat
from Linda Davie |
"Can I have a few words for
SquashSite?" I asked Ritwik after his semi-final win.
"SquashSite - that's awesome!" he replied.
"Thanks, but maybe you've got a few words on the match ???" |
 All
in the mind:
I overheard Cameron White telling Diane Desira,
"You are not about to play Rachael the world no1, you're just
playing Rachael." I'm afraid the counselling didn't help ... |
|
OOPS! In the all-Kiwi
semi-final it was 2-1 and match-ball to Louise and Lara ... and
the ball burst! |
 David
Palmer is on course for two world titles here, but is looking
forward just as much to his wedding on 8th January - triple
congratulations may be in order ... |
| Dave Clark,
the New Zealand coach was courtside with me this morning. His
teams all seem very well prepared - they look well set to pick up
some medals. |
|
The matches are being shown live
on TV, so even when I've got the afternoon off like today, I
can still watch from the hotel !! |
| Mention was
made on TV about no England teams, due to having no budget,
but that they might be missing out on valuable practice for the
Commonwealth Games 2006 ... |
 I
spoke to Geoff Hunt just before the quarters started and he
said that the squash courts just aren't wide enough for the men.
I laughed because I thought at first it was a joke, then I thought
about it. Perhaps he is correct. These top guys can cover
everything and if there are two of them there is just not enough
room to manoeuvre your opposition.
Therefore a lot of the game is based on error. Of course if you
have the game for nicks and can find them on the doubles court you
are blessed. Perhaps the Aussies are too tall?
|
 Maybe
little Rachael [Grinham] should start eating sunflower seeds,
these grow to great heights and a few extra inches in height for
Rachael would not go amiss ! |
Ritwik
is a gentleman on court as well as off court and is a great
ambassador for this country. He very kindly offered me assistance
as I forgot to pack my Malaria tablets.
He just gave me that
wonderful smile of his and said "No problem".
How refreshing ... |
|
Communications from Chennai aren't the best, but I've finally
found a working computer, so fingers crossed! |
|
The WSF's Joyce Buckley was
another late arrival - her plane was delayed by fog. |
| There was a
slight panic after the opening ceremony when Australia's David
Palmer and the Grinham sisters were nowhere to be seen
... but no worries mate, they arrived in time for their first
matches ! |
|
Major Maniam made a very funny
speech at the opening ceremony, cracking jokes about romance,
aimed at the just-married Indian coach Cyrus Poncha ...
unrepeatable! |
FULL RESULTS
|
