There will be plenty of Australians in action at the University of Birmingham Squash Centre as mixed doubles semi-final and men’s doubles quarter-final matches get underway.
Rhys Dowling and Cameron Pilley will kick things off when they go head-to-head with England’s James Willstrop and Declan James.
The English will head into the event ranked the favourites having won gold at the World Doubles Championships in April.
Taking on the top men’s seed, three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Pilley sees it as an opportunity to throw everything they have at it.
“They’re going to have pressure on them and I would say of the 5/8 teams here, they probably didn’t want to get us in the quarters,” he said.
“I think we just have to go in and play our game. We’re looking forward to getting out on the glass court and seeing what we can do.”
Meanwhile, the Aussie pairing had their first competitive match together in the Round of 16 where they beat Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri and Shamil Wakeel 2-0.
Despite their partnership having just begun, Pilley says they’ve gelled both on and off court.
“Having that chemistry on the court is pretty important and I think it’s good we have the staging camp, we’re rooming together and have been hanging out for a few weeks so we’ve got a feeling for each other.”
Before Pilley backs up his efforts with Donna Lobban when they go head to head against England’s Alison Waters and Adrian Waller in the mixed doubles semi-final.
While Lobban and Pilley come into today’s match as the defending champions, Waters and Waller recently won silver at the World Doubles Championships and will come into the competition with momentum.
Later in the day, Zac Alexander and Ryan Cuskelly will face Scotland’s Rory Stewart and Greg Lobban.
The squash competition is being played at the University of Birmingham Squash Centre, with the action live and free on 7plus.
Aussies in Action
Rhys Dowling/Cameron Pilley v James Willstrop/Declan James
12pm (local time)/9pm (AEST)
Donna Lobban/Cameron Pilley v Alison Waters and Adrian Waller
6pm (local time)/3am (AEST)
Alex Haydon/Jess Turnbull v Ashley Stewart/Mary Fun-a-fat
6:45pm (local time)/3:45am (AEST on Sunday)
Zac Alexander/Ryan Cuskelly v Rory Stewart and Greg Lobban
6:45pm (local time)/4:30am (AEST on Sunday)
For the full schedule and results from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, click here.
Photo Credit: PSA