Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier were forced to come from behind to beat their former doubles partner Robert Blair and Indonesia’s Vita Marissa yesterday afternoon to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Yonex French Open in Paris.
Marissa and Blair, who partnered Bankier to the 2007 Scottish International title, took a fluctuating first game 22-20 after trailing 17-15 but seventh seeds Adcock and Bankier levelled the match by taking the second 21-15 after steadily pulling away from 4-4.
Blair and Marissa led 3-1 in the decider but that was the only time they saw daylight. Adcock and Bankier were soon level and from 7-7 applied steady pressure to move away and complete a 21-13 victory.
In today’s quarter-finals they will meet Indonesia’s fourth seeds Tontowi Ahmad and former world champion Liliyana Natsir.
The pairs stand 1-1 in head to heads with the Indonesians having won 21-15 16-21 21-13 at this year’s Swiss Open, but Adcock and Bankier defeated them in the semi-finals of the Yonex BWF World Championships 21-16 21-19 on the way to last year’s world silver medal at Wembley Arena.
On an adjacent court Gabby White and Lauren Smith took on Choi Hye In and Kim So Young of Korea for a place in the women’s doubles quarter-finals.
The England pair began well and led 7-4 before the Koreans got the upper hand. But White and Smith twice fought back, recovering from 11-9 down to 11-11 then reaching 15-15 after trailing 15-13. Yet each time the Koreans held firm and went on to open a 20-16 lead.
Despite White and Smith recovering to within a point they couldn’t stop the Koreans taking the first game 21-19 on their fourth game point.
With that, the Koreans stepped up the pressure and went on to lead 11-4 at the second-game interval before going on to clinch the match 21-13.
The Yonex French Open is part of the 12-event OSIM BWF World Superseries 2012.
Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
