England win men''s doubles, gold for NZ women

Wed, Oct 13 10 10:26 PM

Sabi Hussain New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) Top seeds Nick Matthew and Adrian Grant of England won the men''s doubles gold in squash beating Australia''s Stewart Boswell and David Palmer in the ongoing Commonwealth Games here today. Grant and world No. 2 Matthew, who had won his maiden singles gold last week, took a little more than two hours to complete a 11-9 6-11 11-5 win over the second-seeded Australians at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here. The English pair raced to a five-point lead in the first game, showing a certain level of class in their approach and execution of shots and dead drops for winners. But the Australians soon closed the gap and levelled the score at 9-9. Maintaining their level of concentration, the English duo displayed some of their famouse dead drop winners to take the first game in 50 minutes. The second game saw the Australian pair opening up a 7-2 lead and engage in some fiery exchange of rallies. Grant and Matthew pulled the scores back to 9-6, but Australia closed out the game in 43 minutes. The third game saw England opening up a 4-1 lead, this time before Palmer clashed with Matthew and hurt his right elbow. After some ice treatment, the Australian returned to court only to see the Matthew-Grant pair extending their lead to 6-2, and then to 9-4. Matthew then came up with one his famed dead drop winners to clinch the yellow metal for England. "It''s a special feeling for me. Winning a Commonwealth gold is something which can''t be described in words. We both played some great squash today and the result is in front of you," said an excited Matthew. "I am speechless," said the left-handed Grant after winning his maiden medal. "I wanted to give him the chance to get a second gold medal and I did just that," he added. Matthew, who was not well last month, and Grant were expected to retain the men''s doubles gold for England -- Peter Nicol and Lee Beachill had won the title for the second time in a row in 2006. "Winning a second gold is incredible. What Peter Nicol achieved last time was massive," said the 30-year-old Matthew. Australia''s Palmer said, "We put a lot of effort today but that did not prove sufficient. We both played pretty well in the first and second game, but lost momentum in the third. The English pair was pretty aggressive and they showed it. At last, I had expected something yellow (gold). Meanwhile, in the bronze medal play-off, Australia''s Ryan Cuskelly and Cameron Pilley defeated the Scottish pair of Alan Clyne and Harry Leitch 11-5 11-7 in 52 minutes. MORE SHN AH

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