Home fans cheer as Scottish teams power through in Glasgow
By ALAN THATCHER and Special Correspondents

England’s Patrick Rooney and Gina Kennedy produced a brilliant performance to beat top seeds Paul Coll and Joelle King 2-1 on the second day of the WSF World Championships in Scotstoun, Glasgow.

After losing earlier in the day against Hong Kong, China’s Chi Him Wong and Ka Yi Lee in their first ever match together, Rooney and Kennedy bounced back to produce a quality performance to down the Kiwis.

Rooney and Kennedy took the first game 11-8 only to be pegged back in the second by an 11-9 New Zealand win. If the new English pairing were nervous, they showed few signs of it, as Kennedy attacked well with strong support from Rooney and they were able to claim a famous win with an 11-8 win in the third.

After the match, Rooney said: “I’m buzzing after that, especially after losing to Hong Kong. I think in doubles every match can go either way, I’m very happy.

“I felt pretty tense at the end because I wasn’t sure if we could do it or not. I was getting more and more tense the closer we got! At 10-8 it became a bit of a hack-fest!”

Kennedy added: “I was actually so relaxed and I think that’s why we were playing quite well. As Pat said, in doubles it’s always all to play for, anyone can beat anyone so that’s why I knew we had a chance of beating Paul and Joelle. Even at match ball I felt pretty relaxed and I think that really helped us.”

Scotland continued their impressive early form as home teams won five out of their six matches.

In an early early-afternoon upset, mixed doubles partners Greg Lobban and Lisa Aitken downed Indian No.2 seeds and 2016 silver medalists Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal Karthik, much to the delight of the home crowd.

The Scots pair played an impressive attacking game, fighting hard to push up the court and deservedly took the first game 11-6 before sealing the match with an 11-4 win in the second.

Afterwards, Aitken paid tribute to Lobban, saying: “That was a very good match. Greg shocks me sometimes with how good he is. When he’s in that mood he brings out the best in me, so it’s a win-win.

“There was a lot of pressure in that match, they’ve won several medals and it was a big match in the pool, so it was one we were really looking forward to!”

Lobban and Aitken’s win was far from the only strong Scottish performance to draw boisterous applause from the home fans, with Alan Clyne, Douglas Kempsell, Rory Stewart and Georgia Adderley all impressing.

Stewart and Adderley looked in great form in their first ever competitive outing together. They began the day by beating higher-ranked Australian pair Ryan Cuskelly and Rachael Grinham 2-0 and Singapore’s Aaron Liang and Au Yeong Wai Yhann by the same scoreline, with that first win drawing some of the loudest cheers of the day from the delighted crowd.

Afterwards, Adderley said: “Hearing people shout ‘Come on Scotland’ gives you that extra push when you’re nervous or struggling a bit, physically or mentally.”

Stewart agreed, adding: “It was really good having the crowd, you gain a lot of confidence knowing there’s people there to cheer for you. It probably gets an extra 10 percent out of me!”

For Hong Kong, China’s Wong and Lee, their early victory over Rooney and Kennedy Lee became all the more impressive in light of the English duo’s win over New Zealand.

Wong and Lee, who narrowly lost out to Coll and King, were good value for the win, with Wong reflecting: “Yesterday [against Coll and King] was definitely a tough loss to take when you’re 1-0 up against the British Open champion. I think we picked ourselves up well to take away the negative emotions from yesterday.”

With just seven matches in the women’s event, results went largely to seedings, with Malaysia’s Ainaa Ampandi and Yiwen Chen the only pair to beat higher ranked opponents. They beat Hong Kong, China’s Tsz-Wing Tong and Ho Tze Lok 2-1 in the day’s final match.

Elsewhere, the group stage of the men’s competition came to a close, with two England teams, Australia, Malaysia, and two Scotland teams topping the six groups.

In some of the day’s other matches, Spain collected their first ever win at the World Doubles Championships, Malaysian No.4 seeds Eain Yow Ng and Ivan Yuen survived an 82-minute clash with Wales’ Peter Creed and Emyr Evans, and Ryan Cuskelly and Rachael Grinham beat No.3 seeds Zac Alexander and Donna Lobban in an all-Australia affair.

WSF World Doubles Squash Championships Day Two at Scotstoun Leisure Centre, Glasgow, Scotland.

Court One

11:00 Mixed (Group C) [5/6] Ryan Cuskelly/RachaelGrinham (AUS) (4/11 11/9 9/11 41mins) [13/16] Rory Stewart/Georgia Adderley (SCO)

11:45 WALKOVER: Men’s (Group E) [5] Alan Clyne/Douglas Kempsell (SCO) walkover to Scotland v Ravindu Laksiri/Shamil Wakeel (LKA)

12:30 Mixed (Group C) [13/16] Rory Stewart/Georgia Adderley (SCO) (11/10 11/7 19mins) Aaron Liang/Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP)

13:15 Mixed (Group B) [2] Saurav Ghosal/Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) (6/11 4/11 24 mins) [7/8] Greg Lobban/Lisa Aitken (SCO)

14:30 Men’s (Group E) [5] Alan Clyne/Douglas Kempsell (SCO) (11/7 11/3 32mins) [7/9] Vikram Malhotra/Ramit Tandon (IND)

15:15 Men’s (Group A) [1] Declan James/James Willstrop (ENG) (11/8 9/11 11/8 66mins) [10/12] Lwamba Chileshe/Temwa Chileshe (NZL)

16:00 Women’s (Group A) [4] Rachel Arnold/Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) (8/11 11/8 11/6 33mins) [7/8] Georgia Adderley/Lisa Aitken (SCO)

18:00 Mixed (Group D) [5/6] Joel Makin/Tesni Evans (WAL) (11/9 11/3 19mins) [11/12] Max Lee/Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)

19:30 Mixed (Group B) [7/8] Greg Lobban/Lisa Aitken (SCO) (11-7 11-8 28mins) Evan Williams/Kaitlyn Williams (NZL)

Court Two

13:15 Mixed (Group C) [5/6] Ryan Cuskelly/Rachael Grinham (AUS) (11/4 11/8 18mins) [11/12] Ivan Yuen/Rachel Arnold (MAS)

14:30 Women’s (Group A) [9/10] Alex Haydon/Jessica Turnbull (AUS) (4/11 7/11 20mins) [11/12] Alexandra Fuller/Cheyna Wood [RSA]

15:15 Men’s (Group F) [16/18] Bernat Jaume/Joel Jaume Izcara (ESP) (11/6 11/5 19mins) Aaron Liang/Chua Man Tong (SGP)

16:00 Women’s (Group A) [1] Joelle King/Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) (11/9 11/6 25mins) [5/6] Georgina Kennedy/Lucy Turmel (ENG)

16:45 Men’s (Group B) [2] Daryl Selby/Adrian Waller (ENG) (11/7 11/5 33mins) [10/12] Rhys Dowling/Rex Hedrick (AUS)

18:00 Mixed (Group A) [13/16] Chi Him Wong/Ka Yi Lee (HKG) (6/11 11/7 9/11 32mins) Jean-Pierre Brits/Alexandra Fuller (RSA)

19:30 Mixed (Group C) [3] Zac Alexander/Donna Lobban (AUS) (2/11 11/10 4/11 30mins) [5/6] Ryan Cuskelly/Rachael Grinham (AUS)

20:15 Women’s (Group B) [7/8] Tsz-Wing Tong/Ho Tze Lok (HKG) (9/11 11/10 6/11 38mins) [9/10] Ainaa Ampandi/Yiwen Chen (MAS)

Court Three

11:00 Mixed (Group A) [9/10] Vikram Malhotra/Joshna Chinappa (IND) (11/6 11/8 19mins) Jean-Pierre Brits/Alexandra Fuller (RSA)

11:45 Mixed (Group D) [13/16] Nick Sachvie/Hollie Naughton (CAN) (8/11 11/4 9/11 34 mins) Christo Potgieter/Cheyna Wood (RSA)

12:30 Mixed (Group A) [7/8] Patrick Rooney/Georgina Kennedy (ENG) (5/11 9/11 26mins) [13/16] Chi Him Wong/Ka Yi Lee (HKG)

13:15 Mixed (Group D) [4] Adrian Waller/Alison Waters (ENG) (11/5 11/7 25mins) [5/6] Joel Makin/Tesni Evans (WAL)

14:30 WALKOVER Men’s (Group E) [16/18] Jean-Pierre Brits/Christo Potgieter (RSA) walkover Ravindu Laksiri/Shamil Wakeel (LKA)

15:15 Men’s (Group C) [13/15] Addeen Idrakie/Sai Hung Ong (MAS) (7/11 11/2 11/6 39 mins) Niall Engerer/Kijan Sultana (MLT)

16:00 Women’s (Group B) [3] Joshna Chinappa/Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) (11/9 11/8 23 mins) [7/8] Tsz-Wing Tong/Ho Tze-Lok (HKG)

16:45 Men’s (Group C) [3] Zac Alexander/Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) (11/9 11/9 29mins) [10/12] David Baillargeon/Nick Sachvie (CAN)

18:45 Mixed (Group A) [1] Paul Coll/Joelle King (NZL) (8/11 11/9 8/11 47mins) [7/8] Patrick Rooney/Georgina Kennedy (ENG)

19:30 Mixed (Group C) [11/12] Ivan Yuen/Rachel Arnold (MAS) (11/7 5/11 11/5 20mins) Aaron Liang/Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP)

Court Four

11:00 Mixed (Group B) [9/10] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal/Aifa Azman (MAS) (11/2 11/3 16mins) Evan Williams/Kaitlyn Watts (NZL)

14:30 Women’s (Group B) [9/10] Ainaa Ampandi/Yiwen Chan (MAS) (11/9 9/11 11/4 30mins) [11/12] Abbie Palmer/Kaitlyn Watts (NZL)

15:15 Men’s (Group D) [16/18] Samuel Kang/Ka Hoe Pang (SGP) (11/5 11/3 16mins) [5/6] Samuel Bonello/Duncan Stahl (MLT)

16:00 Women’s (Group B) [2] Sarah-Jane Perry/Alison Waters (ENG) 11/10 9/11 11/2 (37mins) [5/6] Rachael Grinham/Donna Lobban (AUS)

16:45 Men’s (Group D) [4] Eain Yow Ng/Ivan Yuen (MAS) (9/11 11/10 11/10 82 mins) [7/9] Peter Creed/Emyr Evans (WAL)

18:45 Mixed (Group B) [2] Saurav Ghosal/Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) (11-9 7-11 11-9 40mins) [9/10] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal/Aifa Azman (MAS)

19:30 Mixed (Group D) [4] Adrian Waller/Alison Waters (ENG) (11-4 11-7 19 mins) [13/16] Nick Sachvie/Hollie Naughton (CAN)

Pictures courtesy of WSF and Scottish Squash