WSF WORLD DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP – DAY 4 SESSION 1 ROUND-UP
The first session of the penultimate day of the World Doubles Championship featured a fantastic upset for Team Scotland in the mixed doubles, and one of the performances of the tournament from an inspired Lisa Aitken.
The undoubted highlight of the day came in the mixed doubles quarter finals, as Greg Lobban and Aitken faced men’s world number one Paul Coll and his partner Joelle King.
Team Scotland raced off to a four point lead, but were hauled back to 4-4 by the Kiwi pair.
Scotland slowly pulled away and would triumph 11-7 in the first game.
The second game followed a similar pattern to the first, with Lisa Aitken at the absolute top of her game.
An unfortunate incident with the ball hitting Paul Coll early in the second left the crowd wincing, but thankfully he was able to play on.
Aitken produced winner after winner in a remarkable display, and Scotland would go on to win the second game 11-5, securing a place in this evening’s semi-finals.
Rory Stewart and Georgia Adderley were also in quarter final action this afternoon, against the Welsh pair of Joel Makin and Tesni Evans.
A series of unforced errors for the Scots gave the Welsh team a comfortable 11-4 win in the first game.
The Scots got in to an early 5-0 lead in game two, and looked to have ironed out some of the problems they had faced in the first game.
However, the Welsh duo quickly bounced back to 5-5, and would go on to win the game 11-8.
This was a tough result for Stewart and Adderley, but they will be proud of their efforts in progressing to the quarter final stage of the competition.
The Scottish duo of Georgia Adderley and Lisa Aitken also took on the Malaysian pair of Ainaa Ampandi and Yiwen Chan in the women’s doubles.
The experience of Aitken showed throughout this match, and she helped to coach the less experienced Adderley through some of the trickier moments in the game.
Both players were expertly placing their shots, and the Scots would win 11-7, 11-4.
Team Scotland Semi-final schedule
Court 1
19.30 – Declan James/James Willstrop v Alan Clyne/Douglas Kempsell
Court 2
18.45 – Greg Lobban/Rory Stewart v Daryl Selby/Adrian Waller
20.15 – Greg Lobban/Lisa Aitken v Alison Waters/Adrian Waller
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 broadcasting tonight’s semi-final matches.
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 as 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.
