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India deny Australia bronze in the mixed doubles

Published Mon 08 Aug 2022

Australia’s Donna Lobban and Cameron Pilley have gone down in the mixed doubles bronze medal match against Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Saurav Ghosal of India.

In a re-match of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, where Lobban and Pilley won gold, the Indian pairing flipped the result on its head with a 2-0 victory.

The No.1 seeds brought a great range of shot variation in game one while Karthik held her own against Pilley on the left side of the court. That combination would see the Indian pairing build a big lead against Australia as they looked to take game one.

Lobban and Pilley had other ideas as they made a handful of points to claw it back to 10-8 as they looked to build some momentum but India would see out the first 11-8.

India had another solid start to the second as they continued to attack. Australia tried to get on top of it and they got close at 4-3 but Karthik and Ghosal ran away with the game at 9-4, and with six match points, India was able to seal the bronze medal.

“It was tough out there,” said Pilley.

“I think we went on with a good mindset…trying to bring back that feeling and that positivity we had on the Gold Coast four years ago but we just couldn’t quite sink our teeth into it.”

Being back in the green and gold surrounded by a larger Australian team has been another memorable experience for both Lobban and Pilley.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Lobban said. “It’s what we love more than anything else is putting on the green and gold, and trying to do your best for your country.”

Earlier in the day, Alex Haydon and Jess Turnbull advanced to the final of the women’s doubles plate, beating Botswana Naomi Neo Phatsima and Leungo Katse 2-0.

They will now play Faiza Zafar and Amna Fayyaz of Pakistan on Monday 8 August at 10am (local time)/7pm (AEST).

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

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

Photo Credit: PSA

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