All in the family: Aussie athlete must beat her Scottish husband to win games gold

Australia’s Donna Lobban, playing doubles squash with her cousin, must beat her husband to remain in the hunt for a Commonwealth Games gold medal.

Aug 05, 2022, updated May 22, 2025
Australia's Donna Lobban must defeat her Scottish-born husband Greg for a shot at a Commonwealth Games gold medal. She will team up with her cousin in the mixed doubles event. (Image: PSA World Tour).
Australia's Donna Lobban must defeat her Scottish-born husband Greg for a shot at a Commonwealth Games gold medal. She will team up with her cousin in the mixed doubles event. (Image: PSA World Tour).

Lobban will face-off against her Scotland-born husband in a mixed doubles quarter-final in Birmingham.

ā€œI have already started the mental warfare,ā€ Lobban said.

ā€œI’ve started to wind him up already. I was telling him we were fist-pumping when we got that draw.ā€

Lobban and her cousin Cameron Pilley are defending Commonwealth mixed doubles champions.

Lobban and Pilley downed India’s Joshana Chinappa and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu in straight sets, 11-8 11-9, in the round of 16 on Thursday.

Hours later, Lobban’s husband Greg and his playing partner Lisa Aitken won their clash for Scotland to set-up a Friday night quarter-final pitting husband against wife.

Donna Lobban’s partner Pilley believes other pairs will now be increasingly wary of the Australians on the road to the medals.

ā€œEvery single team is a potential speed bump,ā€ Pilley said.

Advertisement

ā€œWe’re not even seeded in the top four so probably the seeds … if they see us along their road, they are probably more worried about us, being defending champs.

ā€œWhen you go to the Comm Games … you’re not going in hoping for a medal, you’re going for gold.

ā€œHaving done that once, for us it was the best thing ever. So we’re going after it again.ā€

Stay informed, daily

Australia’s flag-bearer Rachael Grinham and her mixed doubles partner Zac Alexander also won their round-of-16 encounter on Thursday, defeating England’s Georgina Kennedy and Patrick Rooney 11-8 11-6.

Alexander and his men’s doubles partner Ryan Cuskelly breezed past Cayman Islands duo Jake Kelly and Jace Jervis, winning 11-2 11-1.

In the women’s doubles, Australia’s Alex Haydon and Jess Turnbull lost their round-of-16 match with England’s Georgina Kennedy and Lucy Turmel, who triumphed 11-4 11-7.

But the Aussie women’s doubles team of Lobban and Grinham march on after defeating India’s Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla and Anahat Singh 11-4 11-4.

Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?

  1. Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
  2. Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
    Advertisement
    Archive
    Advertisement