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Walker & Grainger Make Mixed Finals
By Rob Dinerman, Mar 25, 2007    
Squashtalk Independent News; © 2007 SquashTalk LLC

Chris Walker and Natalie Grainger, British Open men’s and women’s finalists in 2001 and 2005 respectively, pulled off a major upset win this morning in the semifinal round of Mixed Doubles portion of the RBC Dain Rauscher Hashim Khan Invitational when they defeated top seeds Ben Gould and Narelle Krizek at the host Denver Athletic Club. Grainger and Walker, who are teaming up for the first time, will now face Preston Quick and his sister Meredeth this afternoon in the final.

Both Quick siblings, who learned the game as grade-schoolers at the host club and received coaching from the nonagenarian tournament honoree Hashim Khan (who is well on the mend from the fractured hip he incurred while playing doubles earlier this winter), will also be playing again later on in the day, Meredeth in the women’s final, where she and partner Fiona Geaves (semis 15-5 fifth-game winners after trailing 2-1 in games yesterday against Alicia McConnell and Jessica Dimauro) will be taking on recently crowned Canadian Nationals champs Krizek and Steph Hewitt, who won their semi in three over Emily Lungstrum and Dana Betts, and Preston in the ISDA men’s semis, where he and John Russell will be opposing Jeff Mulligan and Matt Jensen.

The latter duo reached that stage at the expense of Gould and Paul Price, who had to default just a few points into the fourth game (down two games to one) when a back injury Price incurred early on in the match worsened to the point where he could not continue. This was the second Price/Gould in-match default this season, preceded by their Wilmington semifinal in December, when Price injured his knee and retired at 0-2, 7-12 against Walker and Viktor Berg. Price’s back injury also caused him and Hewitt to withdraw from the Mixed, allowing their scheduled opponents, Michael Pirnak and Dimauro, a walkover into this morning’s semis, where they lost in four to the Quicks. With the U. S. National Doubles set to begin in Philadelphia in just a few days, it seems likely that Gould will have to find another partner, possibly Berg, and it is unclear whether he and whomever he selects will remain in the No. 1 seeding slot that Gould and Price had occupied.

The Price/Gould default ushered Jensen into his first-ever ISDA semi and Mulligan into his first semi since the 2003 Kellner Cup, when he and then-partner Todd Binns, frequent semifinalists during the early 2000’s, pulled off their last major victory at the expense of Blair Horler and Clive Leach. Their semi against Russell/Quick (3-1 quarterfinal winners over Pirnak and Tyler Millard) will balance the bottom-half semifinal in which Gary Waite and Damien Mudge, undefeated for their careers as partners in the half-dozen ISDA ranking events that have taken place this decade and 3-0 Saturday victors over Doug Lifford and Ayman Kerim, will take on Walker and Berg, who earned their semifinal slot with a four-game win over qualifiers Mark Price and Ben Howell.

Hashim Khan Denver Doubles Tournament Results:

Men’s event:
Quarters:
Matt Jensen/Jeff Mulligan d Paul Price/Ben Gould, 2-1, default (Price injury);
John Russell/Preston Quick d Michael Pirnak/Tyler Millard, 3-1;
Chris Walker/Viktor Berg d Mark Price/Ben Howell, 3-1;
Gary Waite/Damien Mudge d Doug Lifford/Ayman Kerim, 3-0.

Women’s event:
Quarters:
Narelle Krizek/Steph Hewitt, bye;
Dana Betts/Emily Lungstrum d Marci Siers/Natalie Grainger, 3-2;
Meredeth Quick/Fiona Geaves d Mary McKee/Lee Belknap, 3-1;
Alicia McConnell/Jess Dimauro, bye.

Semis:
Krizek/Hewitt d Betts/Lungstrum, 3-0; Quick/Geaves d McConnell/Dimauro, 3-2.

Mixed event: Rd of 16:
Gould/Krizek, bye;
Mudge/Belknap d Karim/Geaves, 3-2;
Dave Rosen/McConnell d Betts/Jensen, 3-2;
Walker/Grainger, bye;
P. Price/Hewitt, bye;
Pirnak/Dimauro d Siers/Millard, 3-0;
Russell/Lungstrum d Berg/McKee, 3-1;
P. Quick/M. Quick, bye.

Qtrs:
Gould/Krizek d Mudge/Belknap, 3-0;
Walker/Grainger d Rosen/McConnell, 3-2;
Pirnak/Dimauro d P. Price/Hewitt, withdrew (Price injury);
P. Quick/M. Quick d Russell/Lungstrum, 3-0.

Semis:
Walker/Grainger d Gould/Krizek, 3-2;
P. Quick/M. Quick d Pirnak/Dimauro, 3-1.

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