Victory tasted twice as sweet for NZ Commonwealth Games team member Lance Beddoes and Abbie Palmer at the 2018 NZ Doubles Championships held at the National Squash Centre over the weekend, as they claimed the Mixed Open title together while also taking out their respective Men’s and Women’s Open draws.   

The Mixed Open ran to seeding during the first round of pool play on Friday evening with the top three teams making it through to the Championship pool for the Saturday matches.  The pairing of Beddoes & Palmer proved too strong for both the Scott Galloway/Kaitlyn Watts and Neil Rossin/Shelley Kitchen pairings, claiming wins against both teams to secure the Mixed Open title.

The Men’s Open saw a couple of tight first round matches with the fifth seeded team of Michael Shelton-Agar and Anthony Lepper squeaking past fourth seeds Leo Fatialofa and Elijah Thomas, while the sixth seeds Vincent Robson and Brad Heaven caused the biggest upset getting past third seeds Alex Oakley and Ben Calvert.  The semi-finals saw victories for top two seeds meaning a final showdown between the Lance Beddoes/Scott Galloway pair and Brad Robinson/Troy Dunn.  The top seeds proved too strong with Beddoes/Galloway taking out the final 11/6 11/5.

The Women’s Open saw play across two pools, with the top two seeds of Jo Shanks/Kaitlyn Watts and Ellie Epke/Abbie Palmer meeting in the final.  However, unlike the Men’s final it was the second seeded Epke/Palmer team that managed to take advantage of their left and right-hand combination to take out the victory 11/6 11/8

It was fantastic to see the four doubles courts in action over the course of the tournament, with the National Squash Centre hosting the National Doubles for the first time since 2012.  A big thank you to the tournament sponsors DB Export, Giesen Wines, Alsco, and Executive Travel, as well as the National Referees who were in attendance to share their knowledge about some of the lesser-known rules of doubles squash.  Auckland is in line as potential hosts for the 2019 edition of the tournament also in accordance with the national tournament rotation calendar, with the venue and dates to be confirmed later in the year.

Men’s Open
Round 1
(1) L Beddoes & S Galloway beat (8) H Malva & C Alvey – 11/5 11/7
(5) M Shelton-Agar & A Lepper beat (4) L Fatialofa & E Thomas – 11/10 9/11 11/9
(6) V Robson & B Heaven beat (3) A Oakley & B Calvert – 7/11 11/8 11/9
(2) B Robinson & T Dunn beat (7) E Karels & M Laws – 11/7 11/4

Semifinals
(1) L Beddoes & S Galloway beat (5) M Shelton-Agar & A Lepper – 11/2 11/7
(2) B Robinson & T Dunn beat (6) V Robson & B Heaven – 11/9 11/6

Final
(1) L Beddoes & S Galloway beat (2) B Robinson & T Dunn – 11/6 11/5

Women’s Open
Pool A
(1) J Shanks & K Watts beat (5) K Wickett & J Moore – 11/5 11/10
(4) T Kimble & J Voykovic beat (5) K Wickett & J Moore – 11/9 11/8
(1) J Shanks & K Watts beat (4) T Kimble & J Voykovic – 11/7 10/11 11/7

Pool B
(2) E Epke & A Palmer beat (6) C Galloway & T Jones – 11/9 11/1
(3) C McLeod & P Wildsmith beat (6) C Galloway & T Jones – 9/11 11/8 11/6
(2) E Epke & A Palmer beat (3) C McLeod & P Wildsmith – 11/6 11/5

Final
(2) E Epke & A Palmer beat (1) J Shanks & K Watts – 11/6 11/8

Mixed Open
Pool A
(1) L Beddoes & A Palmer beat (7) V Robson & T Duberly – 11/2 11/6
(6) J Fletcher & T Kimble beat (7) V Robson & T Duberly – 11/9 11/8
(1) L Beddoes & A Palmer beat (6) J Fletcher & T Kimble – 11/8 11/2

Pool B
(2) S Galloway & K Watts beat (8) J Le Comte & A Wotten – 11/6 11/6
(5) B Robinson & K Cooper beat (8) J Le Comte & A Wotten – 11/10 11/9
(2) S Galloway & K Watts beat (5) B Robinson & K Cooper – 11/6 11/5

Pool C
(3) N Rossin & S Kitchen beat (9) T Dunn & T Horsman – 11/8 11/4
(4) B Heaven & E Epke beat (9) T Dunn & T Horsman – 11/4 11/8
(3) N Rossin & S Kitchen beat (4) B Heaven & E Epke – 9/11 11/6 11/9

Championship Pool
(1) L Beddoes & A Palmer beat (3) N Rossin & S Kitchen – 11/4 11/8
(2) S Galloway & K Watts beat (3) N Rossin & S Kitchen – 11/3 11/6
(1) L Beddoes & K Watts beat (2) S Galloway & K Watts – 11/8 11/5

Women’s 35 Winners – J Shanks & J Voykovic
Men’s 50 Winners – R Bannister & S Hatwell
Social Mixed Winners – P Tau & E Erihe