Australia to play for bronze in mixed doubles at Birmingham 2022

Donna Lobban and Cameron Pilley will play for bronze in the mixed doubles at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

In a fast-paced and exciting semi-final match, the defending gold medallists went down to England’s Alison Waters and Adrian Waller 2-0 on Sunday morning (AEST). 

After England took game one, Australia changed tactics for the second, as Pilley covered the front left side of the court more after Waters exposed that area on various occasions in the match.

Pilley and Lobban continued to battle it out, fighting back from 6-3 down to level it but a masterclass from Waters proved to be the difference between the two sides.

Disappointed they won’t have the chance to go for gold, Pilley said they’ll put it behind them and focus on the bronze medal match.

“It’s one of those ones as disappointing as it is to lose, it’s almost that you have to put it out of your mind straight away,” he said. “With this setup, you have to get over it as soon as you can. 

“Our focus now is fixing a few things up and getting ready for tomorrow and treating it like a World Championships final. 

“Tomorrow is the match we want to win to get bronze.” 

Earlier in the day, Pilley was on court for his men’s doubles quarter-final with Rhys Dowling against England’s James Willstrop and Declan James. 

The English pairing managed to keep four-time Commonwealth Games representative Pilley out of the game by keeping him on his backhand side to limit his options and keep his big hitting forehand at bay.

England, who dominated from the beginning, rarely made any unforced errors and were solid across the court which forced Australia to make an unbelievable shot to get a point. 

Willstrop and James were rewarded for their efforts as they advanced to the semi-final.

Alex Haydon and Jess Turnbull advanced to the semi-final of the women’s doubles plate after beating Guyana’s Mary Fund-A-Fat and Ashley Khalil 2-0. 

Playing on the glass for the first time, the Commonwealth Games debutants took the duo just 13 minutes to secure their win.

“It was unreal to play on the glass,” Turnbull said. “We can’t wait to keep playing and hopefully we can keep going.”

“I was so excited to get on the glass court,” Haydon added. “We’ve been training together for so long in preparation so it feels great for it to come off so well.”

Zac Alexander and Ryan Cuskelly capped off the day for Team Australia when they took on Scotland’s Greg Lobban and Rory Stewart in the men’s doubles quarterfinals. 

It was a tight and edgy game was the beginning with it taking nearly five minutes to see a point on the board.

The Scottish pairing put on a great display throughout the match, making it tough for Australia to find an error to capitalise on. With a two match point buffer, it was a tense fight to see out the match for Scotland as Alexander and Cuskelly threw everything they had at the game.

It wasn’t to be as Stewart and Lobban booked their spot in the semi-final.  

"We sort of left it too late so that's what happened in the end when it got close," Cuskelly said. "Just bad starts in both games and not solid enough, it's disappointing." 

For the full schedule and results from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, click here.

Photo credit: PSA