North men Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban could set up a final showdown against each other when they play their men’s last four ties at the World Doubles Squash Championships in Glasgow tonight.
Clyne and Douglas Kempsell, who are fifth seeds in the men’s draw, face a tough challenge against top seeds Declan James and James Willstrop from England at 7.30pm tonight.
The pair reached the semi-finals by advancing through two rounds on Thursday. They firstly triumphed 2-1 (11-7, 5-11, 11-5) against Australians Rhys Dowling and Rex Hedrick in their last-16 tie.
Clyne and Kempsell then went on to produce an impressive quarter-final victory against third seeds Zac Alexander and Ryan Cuskelly, also from Australia. They had to come from behind, before eventually triumphing by a 2-1 (2-11, 11-8, 10-11) scoreline in a 67 minute epic.
The most tense of finishes! 😬@Kempsell and @Clynesquash have booked their place in the semi final after overcoming Australia in one of the matches of the tournament!
Watch live ⬇️https://t.co/QpTqkAHJ1R pic.twitter.com/7ACQrMuPlF
— Scottish Squash 🏴 (@Scottish_Squash) April 7, 2022
Following the victory, Clyne said: “That was an unbelievable match, the quality that Dougie produced was great and I was happy with the way I played as well.
“We played some great doubles, but we have to against them. They’re one of the top pairings in the world and we haven’t had an easy draw.
“The Australians were unbelievable and I was so pleased with us.”
Also aiming to reach the final are six seeds Lobban and Perth’s Rory Stewart, who face English second seeds Daryl Selby and Adrian Waller at 6.45pm.
In Thursday’s last-16 tie, Lobban and Stewart advanced with a 2-1 (4-11, 11-6, 6-11) victory over Hong Kong’s Tsz Kwan Lau and Henry Leung.
That was followed by a commanding 2-0 (11-6, 11-6) success over Malaysian pair Eain Yow Ng and Ivan Yuen in the last eight.
Lobban is also still firmly in contention for success in the mixed doubles along with Lisa Aitken, having sealed top spot in Group B with a 2-0 (11-5, 11-4) success over Malaysia’s Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Aifa Azman on Thursday.
Lobban and Aitken will face Indian pair Vikram Malhotra and Joshna Chinappa in their quarter-final at 3.15pm today, with the semi-final to follow at 8.15pm should they progress.
