Aussie, Aussie, Aussie on semi-finals day
It was all Australia on semi-finals day on the Gold Coast, with all three finals set to be all-Australian affairs …
With unbeaten women’s top seeds Donna Lobban & Christine Nunn enjoying a rest day before their final match, second seeds Sarah Cardwell & Jessica Turnbull faced Colombia’s Tovar sisters, with the Aussies taking a tight 2-1 win to keep their winning record intact and advance to an effective final against the top seeds.
Defending champions Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley were first through to the men’s final, followed by compatriots Zac Alexander and Rex Hedrick, both pairs enjoying two nil wins.
“I thought we played really well,” said Cuskelly. “We probably lost a bit of concentration in the second where the ball got a little bit dead after the first game but overall very confident.”
“We haven’t played together since the Commonwealth Games over a year ago so we are getting better with each match and getting more confident,” Pilley added.
Hedrick said : “The South Africans have looked dangerous the whole time and they’ve had some good results, so we knew it was going to be tough and a bit tricky but we thought we’d stick to our guns and do what we do well.”
Alexander added: “For us as a team it is getting through the first couple of points at the start of the game and the other boys are so strong and attacking and are pretty much top 20 in the world still so we are the underdogs for sure.”
Pilley and Alexander were back in court in the Mixed semis, and Pilley & Donna Lobban justified their top seeding with a two nil win over compatriots Alex Haydon and Alexander.
Nunn and youngster Nathan Eyles made it a clean sweep for Australia as they beat second seeded Colombians Catalima Pleaez and Matias Knudsen in two games.
“It is nice to not play your absolute best and still come off with a two-nil win so we will take that,” Lobban said. “We thought our Aussie team-mates played really well today and it was a good game, so yeah we’re happy to be in the final.”
Women’s Pool
[2] Sarah Cardwell & Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 2-1 [3] Laura Tovar & Maria Tovar (COL) 11-8, 5-11, 11-5 (26m)
[4] Taylor Flavell &Selena Shaikh (AUS) 2-0 [5] Jemyca Aribado & Aysah Dalida (PHI) 11-7, 11-6 (18m)
Final: [1] Donna Lobban & Christine Nunn (AUS) v [2] Sarah Cardwell & Jessica Turnbull (AUS)
Men’s SEMI-FINALS
[1] Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley (AUS) 2-0 [3] Andres Herrera & Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 11-5, 11-7 (23m)
[2] Zac Alexander & Rex Hedrick (AUS) 2-0 [5] Jean-Pierre Brits & Christo Potgieter (RSA) 11-9, 11-4 (35m)
Mixed SEMI-FINALS
[1] Donna Lobban & Cameron Pilley (AUS) 2-0 [4] Alex Haydon & Zac Alexander (AUS) 11-7, 11-9 (18m)
[3] Christine Nunn & Ethan Eyles (AUS) 2-0 [2] Catalina Pelaez & Matias Knudsen (COL) 11-10, 11-6 (24m)