Bronze medal up for grabs in mixed doubles for Australia

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is getting to the pointy end of the competition with a podium finish up for grabs.

Up first on court will be Alex Haydon and Jess Turnbull in the women’s doubles plate semifinal, where they’ll face Botswana’s Naomi Neo Phatsima and Leungo Katse. 

The Botswana pairing had a walkover against New Zealand in their quarter-final match.

Donna Lobban and Cameron Pilley will have a chance to stand on the podium when they play in the bronze medal match on Monday (AEST). 

The defending gold medallists went down in a close-fought loss to England’s Alison Waters and Adrian Waller in their semi-final. It has now put the Aussie pairing on the path to face No.1 seeds Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Saurav Ghosal of India. 

The mixed doubles world champions suffered a surprise upset at the hands of New Zealand’s Joelle King and Paul Coll in their semi-final clash

Looking to put their loss behind them, five-time Commonwealth Games medallist Pilley says playing for bronze means there is still a chance to stand on the podium.

“At the end of the day if you can’t win the gold, you’re going to take silver or bronze,” he said. 

“For us, if we win the match tomorrow we are going to be standing on the podium. I’ve won bronze a couple of times before and it’s still very special.”

The squash competition is being played at the University of Birmingham Squash Centre, with the action live and free on 7plus.

Aussies in Action

Alex Haydon/Jess Turnbull v Naomi Neo Phatsima/Leungo Katse
Women’s Doubles Plate Semifinal
2:30pm (local time)/11:30pm (AEST)

Dipika Pallikal Karthik/Saurav Ghosal v Donna Lobban/Cameron Pilley
Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Match
6pm (local time)/ 3:00am (AEST on Monday 9 August)

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

Photo Credit: PSA