Today's first day of knockout action in the World Doubles Championships in Chennai, India, saw Australians David Palmer and Cameron White make sure of two medals apiece after separately surviving quarter-finals in both the Men's and Mixed events - while local crowds delighted in the unexpected demise of Australia's 3/4 seeds Dan Jenson and Cameron Pilley as Indian duo Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghosal, seeded in the 5/8 group, won a tense 71-minute Men's battle to guarantee unexpected medals.
Top seeds in the men's event, David Palmer and Anthony Ricketts beat Pakistan's 5/8 seeds Safeer Ullah Khan and Farrukh Zaman 9-3 9-7 9-7 to set up an all-Australian semi-final against Byron Davis and Cameron White, the 5/8 seeds who triumphed 9-5 9-6 9-5 over Hong Kong's Wai Hang Wong and Roger Ngan.
Later Palmer teamed up with fellow British Open champion Rachael Grinham to beat Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu and Faheem Khan 9-4 9-2 9-3 in the last eight of the Mixed event. Palmer's reward is another semi-final clash with compatriot Cameron White who, with Dianne Desira, beat India's Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal in the adjacent quarter-final.
But local interest was focussed on the men's quarter-final between Bhattacharya and Ghosal, the national senior and junior champions of India, respectively, and higher-seeded Australians Dan Jenson and Cameron Pilley - which the Indian pair won 9-3 11-8 4-9 8-9 9-6 in 71 minutes. They now face the USA pairing Jamie Crombie and Preston Quick, also 5/8 seeds, who upset Pakistan's 3/4 seeds Mansoor Zaman and Shahid Zaman 8-9 11-10 9-7 9-6.
Men's Doubles quarter-finals:
[1] David Palmer & Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [5/8] Safeer Ullah Khan & Farrukh Zaman (PAK)
9-3, 9-7, 9-7 (25m)
[5/8] Byron Davis & Cameron White (AUS) bt Wai Hang Wong & Roger Ngan (HKG)
9-5, 9-6, 9-5 (44m)
[5/8] Ritwik Bhattacharya & Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [3/4] Dan Jenson & Cameron Pilley (AUS)
9-3, 11-8, 4-9, 8-9, 9-6 (71m)
[5/8] Jamie Crombie & Preston Quick (USA) bt [3/4] Mansoor Zaman & Shahid Zaman (PAK)
8-9, 11-10, 9-7, 9-6 (57m)
9th-16th place play-offs:
Paul Atkinson & Michael Tootill (RSA) bt Raymond Arnold & S Maniam (MAS)
9-1, 11-9, 9-6 (31m)
Vikas Jangra & Harinder Pal Singh (IND) bt [2] Mohd Azlan Iskandar & Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
w/o
Gaurav Nandrajog & Niraj Shirgaokar (IND) bt Vivian Rhamanan & Mohd Rizal (SIN)
w/o
Bala Murugan & A Parthiban (IND) bt Naishadh Lalwani & Rushabh Vora (IND)
9-5, 11-8, 7-9, 4-9, 9-6 (47m)
Mixed Doubles quarter-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham & David Palmer (AUS) bt Rebecca Chiu & Faheem Khan (HKG)
9-4, 9-2, 9-3 (16m)
[5/8] Dianne Desira & Cameron White (AUS) bt Joshna Chinappa & Saurav Ghosal (IND)
10-11, 11-9, 9-3, 9-5 (46m)
[3/4] Natalie Grinham & Dan Jenson (AUS) bt Lara Petera & Callum O'Brien (NZL)
9-6, 11-9, 6-9, 7-9, 9-4 (69m)
[2] Shelley Kitchen & Glen Wilson (NZL) bt [5/8] Tricia Chuah & Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS)
9-3, 9-2, 9-6 (17m)
9th-16th place play-offs:
[5/8] Latasha Khan & Jamie Crombie (USA) bt Louisa Hall & Preston Quick (USA)
9-7, 9-8, 9-3 (35m)