Donna Urquhart and Cameron Pilley, an Aussie pairing who have been together for eight months, claimed Commonwealth Games squash gold on the Gold Coast.
They won the mixed doubles final in straight games at the Oxenford Studios, keeping the mixed gold in Australian hands for the fourth time since 2006.
But, buoyed by the crowd, Urquhart and Pilley, first cousins who hail from Yamba in New South Wales defeated Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Saurav Ghosal (India) 11-8, 11-10 in 31 minutes.
“It feels amazing,” said Pilley, who now becomes the first player to win three Commonwealth Games doubles gold medals.
“It won’t sink in until we’re standing on the podium and watching the flag go up – that’ll probably get the waterworks going.
“Every other gold I’ve won is so special. But to play in front of such a great Aussie crowd is something we never get the opportunity to do. I’ve got about 10 family from Denmark who’ve come over and a massive group from Yamba came up.
“So to do it in front of all your friends and family who never get to see you play – and we walk away with a gold medal – it makes it even better!”
Urquhart said: “It’s so good for squash – I hope everybody loved it.
“We might never get another opportunity to play in front of a crowd that big, where they’re all cheering for us.
“I can’t believe we did it. I can’t believe how relaxed we were – I can’t believe how relaxed I was. How good is this moment. We remembered to enjoy it – and that relaxed us. We were so hungry to win.”
Mixed Doubles Final:
[4] Donna Urquhart & Cameron Pilley (Australia) bt [5] Dipika Pallikal Karthik & Saurav Ghosal (India) 11-8, 11-10 (31m)
Bronze medal play-off:
[1] Joelle King & Paul Coll (New Zealand) bt [2] Alison Waters & Daryl Selby (England) 11-6, 11-6 (28m)
Men’s Doubles Semi-finals:
[7] Daryl Selby & Adrian Waller (England) bt [4] Declan James & James Willstrop (England) 11-9, 9-11, 11-10 (86m)
[5] Zac Alexander & David Palmer (Australia) bt [2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (Scotland) 11-8, 11-5 (30m)
Women’s Doubles Semi-finals:
[3] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (India) bt [7] Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry (England) 11-10, 11-5 (25m)
[1] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (New Zealnad) bt [4] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (Australia) 11-9, 11-5 (20m)
Men’s Final line-up:
[7] Daryl Selby & Adrian Waller (England) v [5] Zac Alexander & David Palmer (Australia)
Bronze medal play-off:
[4] Declan James & James Willstrop (England) v [2] Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban (Scotland)
Women’s Final line-up:
[3] Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal Karthik (India) v [1] Joelle King & Amanda Landers-Murphy (New Zealand)
Bronze medal play-off:
[7] Laura Massaro & Sarah-Jane Perry (England) v [4] Rachael Grinham & Donna Urquhart (Australia)