India and hosts Australia will go head-to-head in a surprise Commonwealth Games Squash Mixed Doubles final after the top two seeds failed to survive three-game semi-finals at Oxenford Studios in Gold Coast, Australia.

It was the end of the line for the favourites when Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal, the fifth seeds from India, defeated New Zealanders Joelle King & Paul Coll, the reigning world champions, 9-11, 11-8, 11-10 in 53 minutes.

From 6-3 down in the third and final game, the Kiwis came back to take a 7-6 lead before India moved on to match-ball at 10-9. King & Coll grabbed the next point to force a sudden death 10-10 ‘match-ball’ for both pairs – but after a lengthy rally, King hit the ball into the tin to put Pallikal and Ghosal into the final.

The second semi immediately followed on the all-glass showcourt – with the capacity crowd eager to cheer on a home pair. Undoubtedly buoyed by the crowd, Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley recovered from the loss of the first game to beat Alison Waters & Daryl Selby, the No.2 seeds from England, 10-11, 11-7, 11-7 in 55 minutes.

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Men’s Doubles quarter-finals:
[7] Daryl Selby & Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [1] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS) 9-11, 11-8, 11-10 (73m)
[4] Declan James & James Willstrop (ENG) bt [11] Vikram Malhotra & Ramit Tandon (IND) 10-11, 11-8, 11-5 (48m)
[5] Zac Alexander & David Palmer (AUS) bt [3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-9, 6-11, 11-7 (64m)
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [10] Mohd Syafiq Kamal & Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 (52m)

Women’s Doubles quarter-finals:
[7] Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [9] Rachel Arnold & Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 11-8, 11-10 (25m)
[3] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) bt [5] Samantha Cornett & Nikki Todd (CAN) 7-11, 11-5, 11-9 (39m)
[4] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt [6] Tesni Evans & Deon Saffery (WAL) 9-11, 11-10, 11-3 (48m)
[1] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt [2] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG) 11-10, 11-5 (24m)

Mixed Doubles semi-finals:
[5] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [1] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) 9-11, 11-8, 11-10 (53m)
[4] Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [2] Alison Waters & Daryl Selby (ENG) 10-11, 11-7, 11-7 (55m)

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[button color=”red” size=”xlarge” link=”http://cwgsquash.net/doublesday4report/” newpage=”yes”] FULL DOUBLES DAY FOUR REPORT [/button]