Squash: Rorani's double brings accolade

By MARK GEENTY

Leilani Rorani struggled to describe the feeling after she bagged the almost unthinkable yesterday - two gold medals in the space of three hours.

Hamilton-based Rorani was virtually speechless as she tried to describe carrying on from a mixed doubles gold with Glen Wilson to do it all again with adopted Australian Carol Owens in the women's final.

She and Wilson beat Malaysian pair Nicol David and Beng Hee Ong 15-11, 15-9, in 42 minutes before a marathon, 67-minute women's match.

Rorani and Owens beat English pairing Tania Bailey and Cassie Jackman 15-11, 5-15, 15-13.

"It's a small miracle, especially with the amount of squash I've played," a beaming Rorani, 28, said.

"I was thinking of Carol and how much we both wanted to win a gold. It was like, 'This is it girl, the last game you're going to have to play for months'."

The only comparable New Zealand effort was weightlifter Nigel Avery, who won double gold on Sunday.

Rorani was well underdone for the Games after barely recovering from a snapped Achilles tendon. Her partners in both gold medals, though, were huge in their praise of the former world No 2.

"Who at these Games wins two gold medals in less than three hours? I was concerned she might be happy with already winning gold, but she's not a selfish person," Owens said.

"That must have been so hard. They pummelled her, they knew she'd be tired."

The women's pair made hard work of claiming gold at the National Squash Centre after taking out the first game comfortably.

With Bailey and Jackman peppering Rorani and leaving Owens almost redundant, they forced errors and raced through the second game in 13 minutes.

Rorani and Owens dug deep in a half-hour-long final game which ended with Owens smashing the decisive winner.

"I had to hold back the tears. I'm proud to be a New Zealander and it felt fantastic," Owens said.

The pair were surrounded by photographers as they posed with the New Zealand flag on court.

There remained no question of Owens' allegiance after the world No 2 settled in New Zealand four years ago and publicly declared her intention to "smash the Aussies" at the Games

She lost to world No 1 Sarah Fitz-Gerald in the singles final, but she and Rorani eliminated top-seeded sisters Rachael and Natalie Grinham in the semifinals.

Rorani said she would have a long rest then push on for the world teams championships in Denmark this year.

For Wilson, 31, it was his second doubles medal after winning bronze with Sarah Cook in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

- NZPA

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