Top women take on the men

WORLD RANKED: Joelle King in action at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Glasgow Commonwealth Games aspirants Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy will both take on the men at the Wellington open squash championships to be hosted by the Masterton-based Red Star club from tomorrow until Sunday.

They are included in a 16-strong quality field in the men's singles and while King will focus entirely on that event Landers-Murphy has entered the women's singles as well.

The seedings for the men's singles mean King, from Cambridge, and Landers-Murphy, from Rotorua, could confront each other in the second round of the main championship.

For that to happen they will both have to win their opening games, something the fourth-seeded King will be expected to do against 13th-seeded Gary Aukett.

However, the 12th-seeded Landers-Murphy will have a much more difficult assignment against fifth-seeded Sam Atkins.

King's appearance will be the highlight of the tournament.

She is the No 4 ranked female player in the world and No 1 in New Zealand and has already tasted significant success at the Commonwealth Games, having combined with Jaclyn Hawkes to win gold in the women's doubles in Delhi in 2010. She also was runner-up in the mixed doubles with Martin Knight.

King and Landers-Murphy will combine in the doubles in Glasgow, where King will also play the singles and team up with Knight again in the mixed.

Top seed in the men's singles this weekend is defending champion Khasif Suja, of Palmerston North, who at one stage had a world ranking as high as 35.

He is expected to meet Zac Millar, studying at Waikato University but originally from Wellington, in the final scheduled for 2.40pm on Sunday. Millar has shown notable improvement over the past couple of years but whether he can counter Suja's greater experience is doubtful.

Wairarapa interest in the men's event will revolve around the efforts of the 14th-seeded Malcolm Wyeth and a former Masterton player who is now development manager for Squash Wellington, Willie Bicknell, who is the seventh seed.

Landers-Murphy, ranked world No 43, was the obvious top seed for the women's singles, but she can expect spirited opposition from second-seed Rebecca Barnett, formerly of Wellington and now at university in Palmerston North.

Barnett represented NZ at last year's junior girls world championships. Third seed in the women's singles is a former Masterton player Fiona Rouse (nee Deans) while fifth-seed Gerry Brooking is a well-performed local who could meet Landers-Murphy in the semis.

The women's final is at 2pm on Sunday.