Darwin: New Zealand's Joelle King and partner Paul Coll recovered from a defeat in Wednesday’s final qualifying round in the Mixed Doubles to regroup in the semis and see off Australia's No.4 seeds Donna Urquhart & David Palmer 11-9, 11-7 in the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships at the Darwin Squash Centre, here. The Kiwi duo will line up in the final against Indians Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal, the second seeds to whom they lost earlier.
Pallikal and Ghosal made the final following a tough three-game semi-final win over lower-seeded Indian compatriots Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu. They beat Chinappa and Harinder Pal 10-11, 11-7, 11-6 in 37 minutes.
Meanwhile, King is in line for twin gold success in the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships in Darwin after prevailing in both the Women's and Mixed semi-finals in the World Squash Federation event at the Darwin Squash Centre.
Partnering Amanda Landers-Murphy in the Women's Doubles semi-finals, world No.9 King defeated Malaysian pair Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold, the fourth seeds, 11-5, 11-3 in just 16 minutes.
The third-seeded pair will now face Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart, the second seeds from Australia who they upset in an earlier Pool match.
Urquhart and veteran campaigner Grinham, the 39-year-old former world No.1 and world champion from Queensland, dug deep to beat event favourites Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik, the Indian pair who are the reigning Commonwealth Games champions, 11-5, 11-10 in 29 minutes.
Scotland's Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban will face home pair David Palmer & Zac Alexander in the Men's Doubles final. The second-seeded Scots caused a big shock in the semi-finals after ousting Australians Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley, the top seeds, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 in 73 minutes.
Fourth seeds Palmer & Alexander ensured home interest in two of the three finals by upsetting the third-seeded NZ pair Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 in the other semi.
RESULTS: WSF World Doubles Squash Championships, Darwin, Australia
Men's Doubles
3rd qualifying round, Pool A
[4] David Palmer & Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [5] Andrés Herrera & Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 11-10, 11-7
Pool B
[3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [6] Nafiizwan Adnan & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 11-9, 11-8 (44m)
Semi-finals:
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [1] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 (73m)
[4] David Palmer & Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [3] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 (65m)
Women's Doubles
Semi-finals:
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt [1] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) 11-5, 11-10 (29m)
[3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt [4] Delia Arnold & Rachel Arnold (MAS) 11-5, 11-3 (16m)
Mixed Doubles
3rd qualifying round, Pool A
[4] Donna Urquhart & David Palmer (AUS) bt [5] Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 7-11, 11-5, 11-8 (41m)
[8] Amanda Landers-Murphy & Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [9] Delia Arnold & Sanjay Singh Chal (MAS) 11-6, 11-6 (16m)
Pool B
[2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) 11-10, 8-11, 11-8 (46m)
[7] Tesni Evans & Peter Creed (WAL) bt [6] Catalina Pelaez & Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 10-11, 11-2, 11-8 (40m)
[11] Jenny Haley & Joel Makin (WAL) bt [10] Rachel Arnold & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 11-5, 9-11, 11-8 (35m)
Semi-finals:
[3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) bt [4] Donna Urquhart & David Palmer (AUS) 11-9, 11-7 (36m)
[2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [5] Joshna Chinappa & Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 10-11, 11-7, 11-6 (37m)
Men's Doubles Final:
[2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO) v [4] David Palmer & Zac Alexander (AUS)
Women's Doubles Final:
[2] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS) v [3] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)
Mixed Doubles Final:
[3] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL) v [2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (IND)
