Final Results from Darwin Doubles

After a slow start to the tournament the Kiwi pairings managed to step it up a gear to come away with some good results.

Megan Craig and Amanda Landers-Murphy got Silver for New Zealand in the Women's doubles after a rematch against their first round opponents. In the semis the young pair had managed a good win over experienced player and former world number 1 Rachael Grinham and her partner Melody Francis.

In the Men's event Paul Coll and Martin Knight were in the 4-6 play off pool where they faced Scottish pair Douggie Kempsall and Kevin Moran. The first two games went right down to the wire with the Kiwis saving two match balls in the second to take it to a decider. After a few great rallies to start the third the pair stopped the Scots from getting another point in the match, closing out the decider with a beloved 'bagel' 11-0 to secure a fourth place finish.

In the mixed event Paul and Amanda suffered defeat in their Bronze medal match to get another 4th place for New Zealand. The pair faced experienced Aussies Donna Urquhart and Steve Finitsis and after losing the first game had worked hard in the second to get the match to 10-10 however being unable to save the match ball they lost the game and match to give them fourth place.

Megan and Martin came up against the big hitter and experienced Cameron Pilley and Tamika Saxby in their second match and despite winning the first, they lost the match and had to play off for 9-12th place which they subsequently won giving them 10th overall. The Kiwis faced Aussie pair Justin Beard and Taylor Flavell and put in a great performance to win comfortably 11-2 11-1.

Below are Coach Hornsby's latest blogs for the last few days of the event.

Day 4

The first match of the competition was a shock to the system as our female pair had a slow start in each game and lost a quick match to Donna Uquhart and Lisa Camilleri of Australia 1-11, 4-11. This was a bit of a reality check for the pair who got a real lesson in the importance of starting the match strongly.

Next on was Martin and Paul against the very experienced and successful Scottish pairing of Alan Clyne and Harry Lietch. The scots took advantage of anything they could get their rackets on, reeling off outright winners and taking the first 11-4. In the second Paul played an exceptional game down the forehand side to allow nz to dominate the game winning it 11-1. The decider was nip and tuck all the way with the scots finally edging it 11-9.

Paul and Amanda were then straight into it against Ryan Cuskelly and Lisa Camilleri. The kiwi pair took the first game comfortably and were in control of the second before Paul suffered cramp. They eventually lost that game 11-10 and then the decider 11-9.

Meanwhile, Martin and Megan were on another court against Donna Uquhart and Steve Finitsis. Again, after winning the first, they went on to lose the next 2 in a very tense and close match.

So, not a great day results wise, but lessons have been learnt and the players are looking forward to another day tomorrow.

Day 5

This was the heaviest day of the event with all pairings having 2 matches each and therefore each individual player having 4. After the disappointment of failing to pick up any wins in the opening rounds, the kiwis bounced back stronger with some exceptional performances and winning some crucial matches to give themselves a chance of great finishes.

For the final results and full list of match results check out the event page here.