Commonwealth Games: England's Gina Kennedy wins squash gold
- Published
Commonwealth Games 2022: 'She's done it!' - Gina Kennedy gets historic squash gold
2022 Commonwealth Games |
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Hosts: Birmingham Dates: 28 July to 8 August |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV with extra streams on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport mobile app; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra; live text and clips online. |
England's Gina Kennedy won squash gold on her Commonwealth Games debut to cap her meteoric rise in the sport.
The 25-year-old beat Canada's Hollie Naughton 11-7 11-5 12-14 11-5 to become the first Englishwoman to win a Commonwealth squash singles title.
Kennedy, a Harvard graduate, rose from a world ranking of 185th to the top 10 in less than a year and reached her highest ranking of eighth in July.
"I wish I could put into words what this means to me," she said.
"But I honestly can't. It's a dream and this dream has become reality and I've been thinking about how it would feel for so long.
"I've been building up for this for two years now and now it's happened I'm a bit speechless. To be the first Englishwoman amongst the calibre of players that we have to do it is unbelievable. I could end my career today and be beyond happy after that, winning that gold medal."
Kennedy, who trains at the same club as tennis star Emma Raducanu, previously said winning Commonwealth gold would be the "absolute pinnacle achievement".
She will be joined on the podium by England team-mate Sarah-Jane Perry, who won bronze in an astonishing 3-2 comeback against New Zealand's Joelle King.
Having lost the opening two games, and with King looking to have one hand on the medal, world number five Perry - who is from Birmingham - won 6-11 9-11 11-8 11-6 14-12.
"I've had some good comebacks in my time but that's up there with the best of them," said the 32-year-old, who was beaten by King in the Commonwealth final four years ago.
In the men's singles final, Wales' Joel Makin had to settle for silver, beaten 3-11 11-9 8-11 11-8 11-7 by New Zealand's Paul Coll.
The medal marks Makin's first at a Commonwealth Games, having finished fourth four years ago at Gold Coast 2018.
But England's James Willstrop - the defending champion in the men's singles - missed out on a podium finish this time around, however, as he was beaten 3-0 by India's Saurav Ghosal in the men's bronze medal match.
Ghosal, who was previously coached by Willstrop's late father Malcolm, won 11-6 11-1 11-4 for India's first ever squash singles medal at a Commonwealth Games.