Australian squash player Donna Lobban says she has already started a campaign of “mental warfare” against her Scottish husband, who will meet in the mixed doubles quarter-final at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Key points:
- Donna Lobban, who competes for Australia with her cousin Cameron Pilley, will face husband Greg and his partner Lisa Aitken in the quarter-final of the mixed doubles
- Australia’s flag-bearer Rachael Grinham and her mixed doubles parter Zac Alexander also qualified for the quarters after defeating England
- In the women’s doubles, Lobban and Grinham defeated India to win through to the next round
Lobban, playing with her cousin Cameron Pilley, will face off against her husband Greg Lobban and his partner Lisa Aitken tonight.
“I have already started the mental warfare,” Lobban said.
“I’ve started to wind him up already. I was telling him we were fist-pumping when we got that draw.”
Donna Lobban and Pilley are defending Commonwealth mixed doubles champions.
The pair downed India’s Joshana Chinappa and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu in straight sets, 11-8 11-9, in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Hours later, Greg Lobban and Aitken won their clash for Scotland.
Pilley said other pairs would be increasingly wary of the Australians on the road to the medals.
“Every single team is a potential speed bump,” Pilley said.
“We’re not even seeded in the top four so probably the seeds … if they see us along their road, they are probably more worried about us, being defending champs.
“When you go to the Comm Games… you’re not going in hoping for a medal, you’re going for gold.
“Having done that once, for us it was the best thing ever. So we’re going after it again.”
Australia’s flag-bearer Rachael Grinham and her mixed doubles partner Zac Alexander also won their round-of-16 encounter on Thursday, defeating England’s Georgina Kennedy and Patrick Rooney 11-8 11-6.
Alexander and his men’s doubles partner Ryan Cuskelly breezed past Cayman Islands duo Jake Kelly and Jace Jervis, winning 11-2 11-1.
In the women’s doubles, Australia’s Alex Haydon and Jess Turnbull lost their round-of-16 match with England’s Georgina Kennedy and Lucy Turmel, who triumphed 11-4 11-7.
But the Aussie women’s doubles team of Lobban and Grinham march on after defeating India’s Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla and Anahat Singh 11-4 11-4.
AAP
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