WSF WORLD DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP – DAY 3 SESSION 1 ROUND-UP

It was another bright day for Team Scotland in the World Doubles Championship, with four wins out of five matches in Session 1 and two teams progressing through knockout matches.

In the first game of the day, Georgia Adderley and Rory Stewart maintained their unbeaten start to the mixed doubles competition.

The Scottish duo overcame the Malaysian pair of Ivan Yuen and Rachel Arnold in two straight games.

Both Scots showcased their laser-focused short shots, with Stewart on the left side and Adderley on the right side utilising short shots to leave their opponents with no chance of returning them.

The first game finished 11-9 with a flawless kill from Adderley.

The Scottish pair raced ahead to a 6-2 lead in the second game, and would eventually go on to win the game 11-7, without any major issues.

The first knockout stage match for a Scottish team was up next as Rory Stewart and Greg Lobban took on Hong Kong duo Henry Leung and Tsz Kwan Lau in the last 16 on Court 1.

This proved to be a nail-biting match which would go all the way to game three.

In a sensational first game for the Scots, they would pull away from their opponents to win 11-4.

The second game would go very differently, with Hong Kong pulling away in to an early lead.

The Scots found themselves 8-1 down, but to their credit they didn’t give up. Some deft play from Stewart and Lobban helped them to go on a winning run of points, but they ultimately fell short and lost the game 11-6.

Lobban and Stewart played a calm and composed game in the decisive third, and ultimately made their experience count.

In what was a crucial moment in the match, Lobban had a great kill to make it 6-3, and he could hardly hide his delight with a roar showing an appreciation of how important a point it had been to win.

There were nervy moments to come, and when Rory took a chunk out of the wall with his racket, the game was perilously poised with Team Scotland just one point ahead.

They would ultimately see the job through, winning the deciding game 11-6. Much to the delight of the watching crowd.

The Scots duo will now be looking forward to testing themselves in the quarter final.

Meanwhile, on Court 2 Georgia Adderley and Lisa Aitken took on the top seeds of Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy.

This group game proved to be a stern test for the Scots pair, with the New Zealanders making their quality count in the early showings.

The Kiwi pair were playing with a level of power which meant they were able to finish rallies quickly in an 11-5 win in the first game.

Adderley and Aitken came back with a renewed focus in the second game, and in a very tight game they managed to break away from their opponents to win 11-8 and set up a final game decider.

The New Zealanders pulled away early, but the Scots didn’t give up, fighting back to just one point behind at 7-6.

Ultimately the Kiwis would go on to win the game 11-7.

This was a tough game against the highest level of opposition, but the Scots will be pleased with the level of resilience they showed throughout.

Next up for Team Scotland was another last 16 tie with Alan Clyne and Douglas Kempsell going up against Australians Rhys Dowling and Rex Hedrick.

This was an extremely tight game with long rallies and few unforced errors. Those factors combined made this one of the longest of the tournament so far.

There was an element of “anything you can do, I can do better” between the Scots when a delightful Kempsell drop made it 6-2 to Scotland, then an almost identical Clyne drop made it 7-2.

A fired up Kempsell was in lethal form, hitting three winners in a row to take the game from 8-7 to 11-7.

Australia fought back to win the second game 11-5.

The gruelling match was settled in the third leg when Scotland triumphed 11-5 to join Greg Lobban and Rory Stewart in the quarter final.

The final match of the session for Team Scotland featured Georgia Adderley and Lisa Aitken against the Australia duo of Alex Haydon and Jessica Turnbull.

This was a match between two similarly ranked teams, and there was little to separate them over the piece.

Adderley and Aitken won the first game 11-7, but the Australians answered immediately with a commanding 11-3 win in game two.

The Scottish duo pulled away in the final game, with an unreturnable smash from Adderley making it 10-3, and the game ultimately finishing 11-3 to Scotland.

The championship is being 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 features 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.

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