Joel and Tesni In Quest For Gold Coast Games Glory

Joel Makin and Tesni Evans are marching on in the Commonwealth Games squash singles.

Welsh men’s number one Makin, from Pembrokeshire, has beaten Fijian Sailesh Pala in straight games, taking 18 minutes to go through 11-3, 11-3, 11-4.

He then won 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 against Bermuda’s Micah Franklin in just under half an hour.

The next test for Makin, in the last 16 of the men’s singles, is against Jamaica’s Christopher Binnie.

Makin, the number 11 seed, takes on a 29-year-old opponent who is 6ft 3ins tall and ranked 65 in the World.

It has been a difficult time for Makin, who was injured during the build-up to these Games and was unable to play in the Welsh Championships.

Welshman Joel Makin. Pic: Getty Images.

The World number 43 came through the injury worries and has impressed during his opening two matches.

There is no doubt, though, that Binnie is a dangerous opponent. He hit back from two games down to beat India’s bronze medal hope Saurav Ghosal, the number three seed from Kolkata.

Ghosal is at a career high 13 in the World rankings and appeared to be coasting into the last 16.

Binnie, who had already played a first round match in the afternoon session, kept his focus and drew level.

In a topsy-turvy decider favourite Ghosal had match ball at 10-8, but Binnie battled through to claim his shock 5-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 triumph in 74 minutes.

The winner was cheered on by a significant weight of Jamaican support from spectators and he said: “I felt pretty confident going into the match and even though I went down two love I kept on pushing.

“We had all the Jamaican contingent here and that was great.”

The Commonwealth Games Welsh squash team.

On the decider, the eight-time Caribbean champion explained: “I was focused on one point at a time and kept calm.

“I controlled my emotions pretty well. He made a couple of errors at 8-8 and put a couple of balls in the middle where, thankfully, I didn’t hit the tin.

“He had a couple of match balls and I was lucky to pounce on chances at the end. I’m just happy to get through.

“It’s the biggest day of my career for sure. It’s a short career so far and this is only the second round so I have to put some perspective on it.

“But I also have to enjoy it. He’s top 20 in the world and it’s the first top 20 win I’ve ever had. But I’ve been working really hard and hopefully I can be close to this again to try and put in another good performance (v Joel Makin).”

Binnie competed in the 2002 and 2006 Games and Jamaican team manager Karen Anderson said: “

Jamaica’s UK-born Lewis Walters, ranked 260 in the world, raised his country’s spirits in the first round when he beat Rhiwbina Squash Club’s Peter Creed, the 15th seed from Wales who us ranked over 200 places higher, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 in 48 minutes.

The Commonwealth Games squash courts.

A few hours later, 30-year-old Games debutant Walters continued his unscheduled run by seeing off Malta’s Daniel Zammit-Lewis 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 to claim his slot in the last 16.

“Beating Peter Creed is one of my best wins, rankings-wise, ever, to be honest. And to do it in this event makes me really happy.

“This is one of the best days of my life – it’s got to be up there, for sure!

“Going into the event, Chris (Binnie) and I were talking about it and saying that for one us to get to the second day would be really special. But two of us – that’s really cool!”

Jamaican team manager Karen Anderson said: “We are so excited. Christopher is working really, really hard and he’s been on the edge so many times. I think it will do the world of good for his confidence.

“Lewis beat the No.15 seed – and it was a tough battle. But he held his focus and came back today and won again and so we have two Jamaicans in the last 16!

“We’re so happy – this means a lot for squash and we hope it can catapult the game in Jamaica.”

Welsh squash ace Tesni Evans.

Cardiff-born Tesni Evans, who now lives in Rhyl, is seeded number six and has powered into the last 16 of the women’s event, beating Guyana’s Taylor Fernandes 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 in 17minutes.

The reward for Welsh number one Evans is a clash with Aifa Azman, the youngest ever Malaysian winner on the Professional Squash Association tour circuit.

Amazon, aged 16 and ranked 63 in the World, has also won the British Junior Open title three times.

Welsh number two Deon Saffery, from Barry, went out of the singles against second seed Joelle King from New Zealand. It took 22 minutes for King to emerge the winner 11-3, 11-4, 11-2.

RESULTS: Commonwealth Games Squash, Gold Coast, Australia

Men’s 1st round:

Ian Rukunya (UGA) bt Stephen Henry (FIJ) 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (17m)

Xavier Koenig (MRI) bt Yusif Mansaray (SLE) 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 (18m)

[16] Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt Manda Chilambwe (ZAM) 11-6, 11-5, 11-2 (26m)

Evan Williams (NZL) bt Jacob Kelly (CAY) 11-9, 11-5, 13-11 (27m)

Othneil Bailey (SVG) bt Hardeep Reel (KEN) 12-14, 4-11, 11-4, 11-6, 13-11 (37m)

Ernest Jombla (SLE) bt Klaus Pragassen (SEY) 13-15, 11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9 (39m)

Daniel Zammit-Lewis (MLT) bt Kale Wilson (TRI) 13-11, 11-8, 11-8 (32m)

Lewis Walters (JAM) bt [15] Peter Creed (WAL) 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (48m)

[10] Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Jason-Ray Khalil (GUY) 11-3, 12-10, 11-2 (24m)

The Commonwealth Games squash show court in Australia.

Kevin Moran (SCO) bt Jules Snagg (SVG) 11-7, 11-8, 17-15 (27m)

Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt Joe Chapman (IVB) 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 (27m)

Christopher Binnie (JAM) bt Jason Doyle (SVG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (23m)

Micah Franklin (BER) bt James Fayia (SLE) 11-2, 11-3, 11-1 (15m)

[11] Joel Makin (WAL) bt Sailesh Pala (FIJ) 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (18m)

Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [13] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 13-11, 6-11, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10 (93m)

Sunil Seth (GUY) bt Shawn Simpson (BAR) 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4 (32m)

Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Neville Sorrentino (IVB) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (15m)

Michael Kawooya (UGA) bt Madako Junior Suari (PNG) 12-10, 11-3, 11-6 (23m)

Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt Romit Parshottam (FIJ) 11-2, 11-2, 11-5 (12m)

[14] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt Cameron Stafford (CAY) 11-3, 11-13, 11-6, 11-8 (45m)

Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Mandela Patrick (TRI) 11-4, 11-2, 11-6 (22m)

Kelvin Ndhlovu (ZAM) bt Christian Navas (GIB) 11-4, 11-0, 11-3

England’s Nick Matthew is top seed for the Commonwealth Games men’s singles.

Men’s 2nd round:

[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Ian Rukunya (UGA) 11-2, 11-6, 11-2 (20m)

[16] Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt Xavier Koenig (MRI) 11-4, 11-3, 11-0 (16m)

[12] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt Evan Williams (NZL) 7-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 (50m)

[6] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt Othneil Bailey (SVG) 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 (18m)

[7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Ernest Jombla (SLE) 11-7, 11-3, 11-2 (18m)

Lewis Walters (JAM) bt Daniel Zammit-Lewis (MLT) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (33m)

[10] Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Kevin Moran (SCO) 11-9, 11-0, 11-9 (31m)

[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Farhan Zaman (PAK) 11-5, 11-1, 11-7 (27m)

Christopher Binnie (JAM) bt [3] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 5-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 (74m)

[11] Joel Makin (WAL) bt Micah Franklin (BER) 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 (29m)

Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt Sunil Seth (GUY) 11-4, 11-2, 11-3 (32m)

[8] Alan Clyne (SCO) bt Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 (60m)

[5] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Michael Kawooya (UGA) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (21m)

[9] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (24m)

[14] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 11-8, 11-6, 11-1 (33m)

[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Kelvin Ndhlovu (ZAM) 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 (26m)

Women’s 1st round:

Amanda Haywood (BAR) bt Caroline Laing (CAY) 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 5-11, 11-7 (40m)

Colette Sultana (MLT) bt Samantha Hennings (CAY) 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 (20m)

Deon Saffery (WAL) bt Madina Zafar (PAK) 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (22m)

Women’s 2nd round:

[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt Amanda Haywood (BAR) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (15m)

[11] Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt Mihiliya Methsarani (SRI) 12-10, 11-9, 11-4 (23m)

Aifa Azman (MAS) bt [14] Lisa Aitken (SCO) w/o

[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt Taylor Fernandes (GUY) 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 (17m)

[7] Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt Faiza Zafar (PAK) 11-1, 11-2, 11-4 (16m)

[16] Christine Nunn (AUS) bt Dianne Kellas (MLT) 11-3, 11-3, 11-2 (16m)

[13] Nikki Todd (CAN) bt Khaaliqa Nimji (KEN) 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (17m)

[4] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Alison Mua (FIJ) 11-1, 11-3, 11-6 (13m)

[3] Nicol David (MAS) bt Colette Sultana (MLT) 11-1, 11-4, 11-2 (23m)

[10] Samantha Cornett (CAN) bt Mary Fung-A-Fat (GUY) 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 (18m)

[9] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) bt Charlotte Knaggs (TRI) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (19m)

[5] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Meagan Best (BAR) 11-5, 11-1, 11-8 (22m)

[8] Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt Lynette Vai (PNG) 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 (16m)

[15] Tamika Saxby (AUS) bt Eilidh Bridgeman (CAY) 11-4, 11-2, 11-1 (16m)

[12] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Alison Thomson (SCO) 11-7, 11-13, 11-8, 11-8 (39m)

[2] Joelle King (NZL) bt Deon Saffery (WAL) 11-3, 11-4, 11-2 (22m)

Men’s 3rd round line-up:

[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [16] Vikram Malhotra (IND)

[6] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [12] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)

[7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v Lewis Walters (JAM)

[4] James Willstrop (ENG) v [10] Campbell Grayson (NZL)

[8] Alan Clyne (SCO) v Rex Hedrick (AUS)

[5] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [9] Greg Lobban (SCO)

[2] Paul Coll (NZL) v [14] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND)

Mike Workman (centre), Welsh team leader for the Commonwealth Games, pictured with Tesni Evans and Peter Creed.

Women’s 3rd round line-up:

[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [11] Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)

[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) v Aifa Azman (MAS)

[7] Donna Urquhart (AUS) v [16] Christine Nunn (AUS)

[4] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [13] Nikki Todd (CAN)

[3] Nicol David (MAS) v [10] Samantha Cornett (CAN)

[5] Alison Waters (ENG) v [9] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND)

[8] Joshna Chinappa (IND) v [15] Tamika Saxby (AUS)

[2] Joelle King (NZL) v [12] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)

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