England’s dream of a title at the 100th All England Open Championships were shattered last night as Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork and Anthony Clark and Heather Olver bowed out in the quarter-finals at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.
Clark and Olver were first to go, losing to Olympic champions Lee Yong Dae and Lee Hyo Jung of Korea 21-19 21-17 despite leading 13-10 in the opener but always trailing in the second game.
That left Robertson and Wallwork as England’s last hopes. They were up against Indonesia’s double former world champions Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir after knocking out the current world champions Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Juhl of Denmark 24 hours earlier.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Related Stories:
Badminton: Yonex All England Championships Day Two
Win! Tickets for your school to watch the Yonex European Badminton Championships
Badminton: Yonex All England Championships Round Up
……………………………………………………………………………………………
In a close contest the outcome could have been different but for an incorrect line call when they trailed 18-16 in the first game. The second seeds took it 21-18 and then edged away in the second half of the second game to take the match 21-19 on their second match point.
In the singles Denmark’sTine Rasmussen saved three match points in the second game before the 2008 champion and last year’s runner-up defeated China’s Lu Lan 16-21 23-21 21-11 in 59 minutes.
And in the match of the night Denmark’s Peter Gade repeated his 1999 final triumph over Taufik Hidayat when he came back from 8-1 down and 13-10 down in the deciding game to win an 81-minute battle 20-22 22-20 22-20 on his second match point.
But the shock of the night came when China’s Lin Dan, with four titles from six consecutive finals, lost to team-mate Bao Chunlei 21-16 18-21 21-17.
Saturday’s semi-finals at the Yonex All England Championships start at 12.30pm.
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
