2022 Australian Doubles Open ends with a bang

The 2022 Australian Doubles Open has come to a fanatic end with a host of finals on Sunday 23 January.

It was a fast and furious start to the day as the semi-finals in the women’s, men’s and mixed open got underway at the Carrara Squash Centre, with the match between Rex Hedrick/Rhys Dowling and Brad Freeme/Nathan Turnbull drawing plenty of attention.

Hedrick and Dowling went on to claim a straight games victory, awaiting them in the final were local Queensland duo Bryan Lim and Bradley Hindle from Daisy Hill.

In a final highlighted by long rallies, it was a fierce and tight battle. After a close tussle in the opening game, Lim/Hindle took the first before Hedrick/Dowling was able to send it to a final and third game. Carrying from their momentum from the second game, Hedrick/Dowling was able to secure their victory 10-11, 11-9, 11-4 - Dowling defended his 2021 title in the event.

In the women’s open final, it was a dominant start from Rachael Grinham/Alex Haydon before Amelia Martin/Melissa Martin fought back to level at 8-8 in the second game. However, it was Haydon and Grinham who would be crowned champions.

“I feel good about my performances,” Haydon said. “I was a bit nervous on the first day but today I felt very settled in and felt like I was playing well with my partners.”

Grinham, who defended both her titles from 2021 in the women and mixed open, praised her younger doubles partner for her performance over the two-day competition.

“This year the strength and the depth were good,” she said. “Alex played well, she was solid and I think we got better with every match.

“It was a great tournament.”

The last final of the day saw Dowling/Grinham and Hedrick/Cardwell - all players backing up from earlier finals in the afternoon - in the mixed open, with the earlier edging out their opponents 2-0.

For Dowling, who played both with Grinham, an eight-time Commonwealth Games medallist, and Hedrick, a 2018 Commonwealth Games representative, it was a great experience.

“It was amazing, I always love playing doubles and being partnered up with some amazing players,” Dowling said.

“It was unbelievable [to be paired with Grinham], she’s a fantastic player and so grateful to be partnered up with her. I’m amazed at some of the shots she comes up with.

“I can’t wait to be back on the court with her again,” he added.

While the Australian Doubles Open offered the opportunity for national team players to prepare for a big year of international events including the WSF World Doubles Championships in April and Commonwealth Games in July, it was also a great opportunity for the squash community in Australia to reunite.

There was great action on court for the Graded combined events too, with teams showing off their best squash throughout the weekend, concluding with an array of finals.

Squash will return to the Carrara next weekend (28-30 January) with the first PSA event of the year, the Gold Coast Open.

Check out the results below:

Women’s Open results
1. Rachel Grinham/Alex Haydon
2. Amelia Martin/Melissa Martin
3. Sarah Cardwell/Selena Shaikh

Men’s Open results
1. Rhys Dowling/Rex Hedrick
2. Bryan Lim/Bradley Hindle
3. Brad Freeme/Nathan Turnbull

Mixed Open results
1. Rachael Grinham/Rhys Dowling
2. Sarah Cardwell/Rex Hedrick
3. Josh Larkin/Selena Shaikh

Graded A Combined
1. Mike Wilkson/Andre Lynn
2. Nathan George/Jessica Rogerson
3. Kym Tracey-Patte/Clay Canty

Graded B Combined
1. James Boswell/Joel Roshan Raj
2. Brad Allen/Tracey Partridge
3. Jessica Rogerson/Sari-Elle Kramer

Graded C Combined
1. Florian Stafleu/Oliver Bradley
2. Hayan Kim/Pavel Chmelar

The full results from the 2022 Australian Doubles Open can be found here.