July 3, 2023
Zach Russ and Rory Easton are looking to reach new heights as they prepare for the YONEX Canada Open.
The duo are taking part in the Super 500 event in Calgary and have the challenge of playing at altitude to contend with, as well as their higher-ranked opponents.
They begin their campaign against American pairing Vinson Chiu and Joshua Yuan, who sit 11 places above Easton and Russ at 51 in the world.
“Neither of us have played the tournament before, we have heard lots of really good things about it,” Russ said.
June’s Domestic Round Up 🗞⤵️
🔴 U13 Gold Lancashire
🔴 U17 Gold Lancashire
🔴 Disability Junior National ChampionshipsRead on here 👉🏼 https://t.co/8p6y3KOI6E pic.twitter.com/uiJFjKptD7
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) July 3, 2023
“Calgary is supposed to be a really beautiful place and the venue is supposed to be really good too, so we are really looking forward to the tournament.
“It is a good level for us, it is a bit higher than what we have played normally.
Easton added: “Calgary will also present quite a new challenge for us because it is at quite a high altitude, so the shuttles will fly a lot faster because the air is a lot thinner.
“That is going to be tricky, so we are going to see how we fare with that.”
1️⃣ MONTH TO GO 🤩 Are you ready?
The 4 Nations Para Badminton International will take place at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield, 2-6th August. We can’t wait!
Grab your tickets now! https://t.co/Uk5hUyUmnJ pic.twitter.com/5kc1WHLfcE
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) July 2, 2023
Russ and Easton have experienced a mixed 2023 season so far, with their best result coming at the Dutch International in mid-April where they reached the final.
Easton added: “Our goals for the tournament would be to bring all the good stuff we have been doing in training into a tournament, that has been our goal for the last three or four tournaments.
“We’ve had 50/50 success on that: some really good tournaments, some where you are always fighting for improvement.
“Past that, we are really excited to play some BWF tournaments where you might have some opportunities to play some top players which presents a new challenge for us.”
If Russ and Eaton get through their first-round encounter they are likely to face the tournament’s fifth seeds, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei, with a potential quarter-final meeting against world number seven pairing Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.
Elsewhere, Gregory Mairs and Jenny Moore are in the mixed doubles, with the eighth seeds taking on Lee Jhe-Huei and Hsu Ya Ching of Chinese Taipei in the first round.
