Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg are though to the semi-finals of the French Open in Paris.
The fourth seeds and new European champions hit back from a game down to defeat Xu Chen and Pan Pan of China 15-21 21-13 21-19 on their second match point after a 59-minute contest to open the quarter-finals day programme at this 10th event of Super Series II and the last of the four to be played in Europe this year.
Clark and Kellogg, the two-time English National champions, now face double world champions and top seeds Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir in today’s semi-finals.
Reaching the semi-finals will give the world No 9s a vital boost to get among the top eight qualifiers on the day when a $500,000 Super Series Masters final, sponsored by Yonex-Sunrise, was announced by Badminton World Federation to take place in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia from December 18-21.
Former world and reigning Commonwealth champion Nathan Robertson and new partner Jenny Wallwork just failed in their bid to join Clark and Kellogg in the last four in Paris. They battled hard before losing 21-17 21-19 to Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat and Wong Peil Tty in one of the last matches of the night.
Kellogg’s hopes of a second semi-final place were dashed when the two-time European women’s doubles champion and Russia’s Anastasia Russkikh lost to fifth seeds Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei of China 21-17 21-17 in 39 minutes.
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
