Turnbull, Dowling claim Queensland Open

Commonwealth Games representatives Jess Turnbull and Rhys Dowling have taken all before them on their way to winning the 2023 Logan City Queensland Open at Daisy Hill Squash & Racquet Club.

With a bye in the first round, Turnbull didn't drop a game on her way to the semi-finals, defeating national U17 and U19 champions Lijana Sultana and Madison Lyon. Her form was on song, dropping just 22 points in her opening two matches.

The semi-final against Sehveetrraa Kumar was a far more stern affair, with Turnbull needing to use all her fighting qualities to make it through.

After falling behind two games to one, the 28-year-old defiantly took the upper hand with an 11-3 win in the fourth. The decider was closely fought again, but Turnbull was able to come out on top to confirm her place in the final.

Awaiting Turnbull in the final was Korea's Mingyeong Heo who was looking to go one-better than her runner-up finishes at the Shepparaton International and Victorian Open earlier this year.

Heo took the early ascendency by claiming the first game 11-8, before Turnbull one the second by the same scoreline.

The local favourite then moved into top gear, dropping just five points in the third before winning a further 11-straight points to claim the title.

In the men's draw Rhys Dowling was looking to claim the crown having gone down in the 2020 and 2021 finals.

Coming into the tournament as the second seed, Dowling scored a bye through the first round before downing 23-year-old Queenslander Cameron Darton 3-1.

In the quarter-final he found himself up against 2022 World Junior Championships representative Brendan MacDonald where the 19-year-old proved to be worth opposition.

MacDonald claimed a tight first game 14-12 before maintaining the advantage in the second to take a 2-0 lead. From there, it was Dowling's Day, losing just six points in the final three games in an impressive come-from-behind win.

In the semi-final, Dowling was on song, defeating World Cup rep Nick Calvert in three straight games to set up a final showdown with Malaysia's Ong Sai Hung.

It was the Malaysian who knocked Dowling out of the event in the 2019 quarter-finals in their only previous meeting.

The Australian got the edge 12-10 in an exiting first game, drawing confidence and accelerating to a 3-0 win. 

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Also having a successful weekend on the PSA Challenger Tour was Joseph White, who was runner-up at the PVD Squash RI Open in Providence, Rhode Island.

White came from behind in both the quarter-final and semi-final to reach the decider, but was unable to overcome India's Veer Chotrani.

White will move to another career-high ranking position when the new standings are released later today.