Palmer Leads Doubles Success
Dec 15, 2004, by Howard Harding; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004;

Indians Bhattacharya & Ghosal Score Upset
Today's (Wednesday) first day of knockout action in the World Doubles Squash Championships in Chennai, India, saw Australians David Palmer and Cameron White make sure of two medals apiece after separately surviving quarter-finals in both the Men's and Mixed events - while local crowds delighted in the unexpected demise of Australia's 3/4 seeds Dan Jenson and Cameron Pilley as Indian duo Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghosal, seeded in the 5/8 group, won a tense 71-minute Men's battle to guarantee unexpected medals.

Top seeds in the men's event, David Palmer and Anthony Ricketts beat Pakistan's 5/8 seeds Safeer Ullah Khan and Farrukh Zaman 9-3 9-7 9-7 to set up an all-Australian semi-final against Byron Davis and Cameron White, the 5/8 seeds who triumphed 9-5 9-6 9-5 over Hong Kong's Wai Hang Wong and Roger Ngan.

Later Palmer teamed up with fellow British Open champion Rachael Grinham to beat Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu and Faheem Khan 9-4 9-2 9-3 in the last eight of the Mixed event. Palmer's reward is another semi-final clash with compatriot Cameron White who, with Dianne Desira, beat India's Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal in the adjacent quarter-final.

But local interest was focussed on the men's quarter-final between Bhattacharya and Ghosal, the national senior and junior champions of India, respectively, and higher-seeded Australians Dan Jenson and Cameron Pilley - which the Indian pair won 9-3 11-8 4-9 8-9 9-6 in 71 minutes. They now face the USA pairing Jamie Crombie and Preston Quick, also 5/8 seeds, who upset Pakistan's 3/4 seeds Mansoor Zaman and Shahid Zaman 8-9 11-10 9-7 9-6.

Men's Doubles quarter-finals:
[1] David Palmer & Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [5/8] Safeer Ullah Khan & Farrukh Zaman (PAK)
9-3, 9-7, 9-7 (25m)
[5/8] Byron Davis & Cameron White (AUS) bt Wai Hang Wong & Roger Ngan (HKG)
9-5, 9-6, 9-5 (44m)
[5/8] Ritwik Bhattacharya & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [3/4] Dan Jenson & Cameron Pilley (AUS)
9-3, 11-8, 4-9, 8-9, 9-6 (71m)
[5/8] Jamie Crombie & Preston Quick (USA) bt [3/4] Mansoor Zaman & Shahid Zaman (PAK)
8-9, 11-10, 9-7, 9-6 (57m)
9th-16th place play-offs:
Paul Atkinson & Michael Tootill (RSA) bt Raymond Arnold & S Maniam (MAS)
9-1, 11-9, 9-6 (31m)
Vikas Jangra & Harinder Pal Singh (IND) bt [2] Mohd Azlan Iskandar & Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
w/o
Gaurav Nandrajog & Niraj Shirgaokar (IND) bt Vivian Rhamanan & Mohd Rizal (SIN)
w/o
Bala Murugan & A Parthiban (IND) bt Naishadh Lalwani & Rushabh Vora (IND)
9-5, 11-8, 7-9, 4-9, 9-6 (47m)

Mixed Doubles quarter-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham & David Palmer (AUS) bt Rebecca Chiu & Faheem Khan (HKG)
9-4, 9-2, 9-3 (16m)
[5/8] Dianne Desira & Cameron White (AUS) bt Joshna Chinappa & Saurav Ghosal (IND)
10-11, 11-9, 9-3, 9-5 (46m)
[3/4] Natalie Grinham & Dan Jenson (AUS) bt Lara Petera & Callum O'Brien (NZL)
9-6, 11-9, 6-9, 7-9, 9-4 (69m)
[2] Shelley Kitchen & Glen Wilson (NZL) bt [5/8] Tricia Chuah & Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS)
9-3, 9-2, 9-6 (17m)
9th-16th place play-offs:
[5/8] Latasha Khan & Jamie Crombie (USA) bt Louisa Hall & Preston Quick (USA)
9-7, 9-8, 9-3 (35m)

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