World Doubles Champions Tipped For Double Success In Manchester

Reigning champions New Zealand and Scotland are expected to retain their gold medals in next month's WSF World Doubles Squash Championships, according to the seedings announced today by the World Squash Federation. The 2017 championships, hosted by England Squash in conjunction with Scottish Squash, will take place at the National Squash Centre in Manchester, England, between 1-5 August.

The 5th World Doubles Championships, featuring Men's, Women's and Mixed events, will be contested by a record 50 pairings from Australia, Canada, Colombia, England, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.

Scots Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban, winners of the Men's gold medal in the 2016 championship (pictured below, centre, on podium) in Darwin, Australia, are top seeds in Manchester - where they are expected to face second-seeded Australians Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley in the final.

Kiwi Joelle King is bidding to become a double gold medallist for the second year in a row after guiding New Zealand to title success in both the Women's and Mixed events in Darwin.

Paired with Amanda Landers-Murphy again in the 2017 women's championship, King is predicted to line up against Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal, the No.2 seeds from India, in a repeat of the 2016 final.

King and Paul Coll are the Mixed favourites, while the second seeds are also the same Indian pairing of Dipika Pallikal & Saurav Ghosal whom they beat in the 2016 climax.

The full Pool line-ups (including seedings) are as follows:

MEN, Pool A:
[1] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (SCO), [8] Nafiizwan Adnan & Ivan Yuen (MAS), [9] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu & Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND); [13/16] Dylan Bennett & Piedro Schweertman (NED)
Pool B:
[2] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS); [7] Peter Creed & Joel Makin (WAL), [10] Evan Williams & Lance Beddoes (NZL); [13/16] Christo Potgieter & Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA)
Pool C:
[3] Zac Alexander & David Palmer (AUS); [6] Tom Richards & Daryl Selby (ENG); [11] Andrés Herrera & Juan Camilo Vargas (COL); [13/16] Mohd Syafiq Kamal & Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
Pool D:
[4] Paul Coll & Campbell Grayson (NZL); [5] Declan James & James Willstrop (ENG); [12] Douglas Kempsell & Kevin Moran (SCO); [13/16] David Baillargeon & Shawn Delierre (CAN); [17] Richard Larsson & Martin Andresen (NOR)

WOMEN, Pool A:
[1] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL); [8] Samantha Cornett & Nikki Todd (CAN); [9] Natalie Grinham & Milou van der Heijden (NED)
Pool B:
[2] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal (IND); [7] Tesni Evans & Deon Saffery (WAL); [10] Catalina Pelaez & Laura Tovar (COL)
Pool C:
[3] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (AUS); [6] Rachel Arnold & Nicol David (MAS); [11] Sarah Cardwell & Tamika Saxby (AUS)
Pool D:
[4] Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG); [5] Jenny Duncalf & Alison Waters (ENG); [12] Lisa Aitken & Carrie Hallam (SCO); [13] Cheyna Tucker & Alexandra Fuller (RSA)

MIXED, Pool A:
[1] Joelle King & Paul Coll (NZL); [8] Victoria Lust & Adrian Waller (ENG); [9] Deon Saffery & Joel Makin (WAL); [13/16] Lisa Aitken & Harry Leitch (SCO); [17/20] Milnay Louw & Christo Potgieter (RSA)
Pool B:
[2] Dipika Pallikal & Saurav Ghosal (IND); [7] Tesni Evans & Peter Creed (WAL); [10] Samantha Cornett & Shawn Delierre (CAN); [13/16] Rachel Arnold & Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS); [17/20] Milou van der Heijden & Dylan Bennett (NED)
Pool C:
[3] Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley (AUS); [6] Joshna Chinappa & Vikram Malhotra (IND); [11] Amanda Landers-Murphy & Zac Millar (NZL); [13/16] Catalina Pelaez & Andrés Herrera (COL); [17/20] Carrie Hallam & Kevin Moran (SCO)
Pool D:
[4] Rachael Grinham & David Palmer (AUS); [5] Alison Waters & Daryl Selby (ENG); [12] Natalie Grinham & Piedro Schweertman (NED); [13/16] Nikki Todd & David Baillargeon (CAN); [17/20] Laura Tovar & Juan Camilo Vargas (COL)

World Junior Championship images courtesy of www.squashsite.com

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Issued by Howard Harding, World Squash Federation World Media Director
Howard@hhpr.co.uk | 44 7773-325130
WSQ 7891 20 July 2017