Hertfordshire squash titans Alison Waters and Adrian Waller are guaranteed a Birmingham 2022 podium position.
In a game lasting just 20 minutes, Waters and Waller qualified into the finals in this year's Commonwealth Games mixed doubles squash competition yesterday (Saturday, August 6).
The pair will take on New Zealanders Joelle King and Paul Coll in a gold medal match, due to take place tonight (August 7) at 7pm.
Playing against Australia's Donna Lobban and Cameron Pilley at the University of Birmingham Squash Centre in the semi-final match, the Team England duo secured their lead after reaching the 6-6 mark in the first game of two.
Waters' shots into the forward-right corner of the box proved too difficult to catch for Australia's Pilley as Team England continued to add to their tally in the final moments of game one - to end with an 11-8 score.
The second game (in the best-of-three format) saw the Australians score the opening two points.
But after a back-and-forth between England and Australia, Waters and Waller secured an 11-8 win - an overall 2-0 match score - to guarantee themselves at least a silver medal.
In addition to her mixed doubles final, Alison Waters is due to appear in the women's doubles semi-final with partner Sarah-Jane Perry against Malaysia - scheduled in the 1.45pm session today.
Waters has previously been named Welwyn Hatfield's Sports Person of the Year in 2014.
She has now represented Team England in five Commonwealth Games events and was a squash World Team Championships gold medallist at Edmonton in 2006 and again at Niagra-on-the-Lake in 2014.
Waters retired from the sport in 2021 when she was squash world No.3, but returned for the Birmingham 2022 games.
On her return, the 38-year-old athlete said: "I never thought I would get to five Commonwealth Games.
"My first one was in 2006 so it's always a huge honour to represent England and the Commonwealth Games is the pinnacle of our career.
"So that was really nice because I knew that even though I was retiring from singles, I knew there was still a chance that I would get picked for the doubles.
"Commonwealths is the only time we get to play doubles, so I was not going to lose the opportunity to play.
"Especially at a home games so it's going to be something different."
Waters is now based in the Middlesex region.
Adrian Waller, aged 32, was born in Enfield, London and is based in the Herts Squash region.
He was knocked out of the men's singles squash competition at Birmingham 2022 during the quarter-final on Monday, August 1 after losing to New Zealand's Paul Coll.
Waller is also in the competition for a men's doubles medal with partner Daryl Selby after beating the Canadians yesterday in a quarter-final match.
Their semi-final against Scotland also falls in today's 1.45pm squash session.
The athlete has previously appeared in the Gold Coast 2018 games, and played in the longest Professional Squash Association game for 30 years in 2013 and was on the court for more than two and a half hours.
To reach the finals at Birmingham 2022, mixed doubles duo Waters and Waller have fought off competition from Barbados, Wales and now Australia.
New Zealand's King and Coll have beaten Pakistan, India and Scotland to secure their medal position.
The BBC is streaming Commonwealth Games sessions on iPlayer (https://bbc.in/3PMWbvM).
Live Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games coverage is being shown on BBC TV channels until the final day on Monday, August 8.
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