Joelle King picked up her second medal of the Commonwealth Games when she and Paul Coll won their mixed doubles bronze medal play-off in convincing fashion today.
The top-seeded New Zealand pair beat the second seeds, Alison Waters and
Daryl Selby of England, 11-6, 11-6 in just 29 minutes. King and Coll beat the same pair to win the world title last year.
The New Zealanders seemed keen to hurry the match up and Coll, in particular, seemed to have something to prove after the pair’s disappointing semi-final loss the previous day.
“After yesterday's disappointment we wanted to make sure we came out and did
everything we could,” King said. “We played one of our best performances. Super
excited about what we did today.”
Coll said he was devastated by the semi-final defeat. “But I've got a champion partner and she picked me off the ground. I got a bit of fire in the belly to help her out today. She's an inspiration to me.”
For King there is one more match remaining – the women’s doubles final, in which she and Amanda Landers-Murphy will play Indian team of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal Karthik.
“I cannot wait,” she said. “Another gold to get. My partners, both of them, are playing
amazing.”
Earlier today, King and Landers-Murphy beat Australians Rachael Grinham and Donna Urquhart in the women's doubles semi-finals 11-9, 11-5 in just 20 minutes.
King, 29, who will win three medals at these Games, was keen to give credit to the left-handed Landers-Murphy, who excelled in the pressure situations. “It was the Landers-Murphy show out there,” she said.