WSF WORLD DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP – DAY 2 SESSION 1 ROUND-UP

Team Scotland had a near perfect first session during Day 2 of the WSF World Doubles Championship today.

The Scots secured a fantastic four wins from five games, with each member of the team putting in strong performances throughout the session.

The day couldn’t have got off to a better start, as Rory Stewart and Georgia Adderley pulled off a shock against the higher seeded Australian duo of Ryan Cuskelly and Rachael Grinham.

The Scots won the first game 11-4 before the Australians bounced back with an 11-9 win in the second game.

In a tense final game the Scottish pair found themselves tied at 9-9. The Scots held their nerve and went on to win the decisive game 11-9, much to the delight of the Scottish contingent in the crowd.

The duo then faced the Singaporean duo of Aaron Liang and AuYeong Was Yhann, in yet another closely contested affair.

The Scots found themselves 7-2 down in the first game, but they showed great resolve to bounce back and win the game 11-10.

Adderley and Stewart then pulled away in the second game, where ultimately their quality showed as they pulled away to win 11-7.

The duo will undoubtedly be delighted with their efforts today.

Next up Greg Lobban and Lisa Aitken were up against the second seeds, Indian pair Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal Karthik.

This was a physical encounter with both sides battling for control of the court, and it was the Scottish team which won the first game 11-6.

The second game featured some impressive shots from all players, but particularly from the Scottish duo.

Lobban made a great run across the court to finish a point, making it -1 to Scotland.

His performance in the last point was even more impressive, covering what seemed like every inch of the court to win the final point.

Alan Clyne and Douglas Kempsell faced the Indian duo of Vikram Malhotra and Ramit Tandon in the men’s doubles next.

Both teams played very accurate squash, leading to lots of long rallies playing out. Clyne in particular found his backhand shots consistently hugging the wall.

The Scots won the first game 11-7, and an unreturnable lob which landed perfectly in the back left corner of the court by Douglas Kempsell secured the final point in an 11-3 win in the second game.

The final game for a Scottish team during the daytime session came in the women’s doubles as Georgia Adderley and Lisa Aitken faced off against the strong Malaysian pairing of Rachel Arnold and Sivasangari Subramaniam.

The Scots got off to a good start, winning the first game 11-8.

However, the Malaysian duo fought back to win the second game, after a blood break for Adderley to get her knee bandaged up, 11-8.

The third game went point for point to 5-5, but the Malaysian pair would then go on to win five consecutive points, to take the game to 10-5, ultimately winning the game 11-6 and the match 2-1.

The final Scottish action of the day will take place on Court 1 at 7.30pm this evening when Greg Lobban and Lisa Aitken take on New Zealand’s Evan Williams and Kaitlyn Watts.

The championship will be broadcast live on Youtube, the WSF and Scottish Squash Facebook pages and on the Olympic Channel, with BBC iPlayer and SQUASHTV also broadcasting the later rounds.

The WSF World Squash Doubles will feature men’s, women’s and mixed doubles events, culminating in the finals on Saturday 9th April. Tickets are available for purchase on Eventbrite now https://bit.ly/3JzcskN.

Squash was recently voted by Forbes Magazine at the healthiest Sport in the world and getting involved couldn’t be easier. Many clubs run special deals for new members and offer competitive leagues throughout the year. Either pay a visit to a club near you for more information or contact Scottish Squash to get started.

You might also like
WSF WORLD DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP – DAY 4 SESSION 2 ROUND-UP
WSF WORLD DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP – DAY 3 SESSION 2 ROUND-UP
Silver and two bronze medals as Scotland fly high on finals day at World Doubles Championship
WSF WORLD DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP – DAY 4 SESSION 1 ROUND-UP
WSF WORLD DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP – OFFICIAL EVENT CHARITY
WSF WORLD DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP – DAY 3 SESSION 1 ROUND-UP