03 February 2024
Jenny Mairs made it through to two semi-finals on day one of the English National Badminton Championships 2024.
After reaching the last four in the defence of her mixed doubles title with husband Greg, Mairs achieved the same feat in the women’s doubles having been a late call-up to partner Chloe Birch.
The shock result of the day came from the mixed doubles where the unseeded pairing of Rory Easton and Elizabeth Tolman knocked out the second seeds Ethan van Leeuwen and Annie Lado in a three-game epic.
In the mixed doubles, the Mairs did not drop a game to reach the last four in Nottingham, defeating Steven Strickland and Laura Mercer 21-10 21-6 and Harry Lines and Susanna Ogden 21-12 21-12.
They will face 3/4th seeds Samuel Jones and Sian Kelly who beat Jonty Russ and Holly Williams 21-10 30-28 in a thrilling straight-games win.
Easton and Tolman have earned a semi-final against Brandon Yap and Abbygael Harris as Easton looks to go one better than last year.
The pair showed their capabilities to come from behind in their win over Van Leeuwen and Lado 21-23 21-17 25-23.
Meanwhile, up against Mili Patel and Holly Williams in the women’s doubles quarter-finals, Birch and Mairs were dominant, winning 21-7 21-2.
Reflecting on their last-minute partnership, Birch said: “We have known each other a long long time, we are the same age and grew up playing juniors together.
“We are just aiming to enjoy the weekend. We know that if we play our best then we can play well and try and win the event but we will just take it one game at a time and see what we can do.”
Birch and Mairs have been joined in the last four by last year’s beaten finalists Abbygael Harris and Annie Lado, who lost out to Birch and Jenny Wallwork.
Day 1️⃣ of the 2024 English Nationals has kicked off🤩 🏴🔥 Thanks to our official sports equipment partner @yonex_uk & @uonsport for their support in staging the championships 🙌 Make sure to catch all the action live on our YouTube page! 🎥 #badminton #nationals pic.twitter.com/TXy1Ozxgi7
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) February 3, 2024
Also making it through were Georgina Bland and Devon Minnis who knocked out 3/4th seeds Jessica Allen and Abbie Smith 17-21 21-18 21-18 in the final game of the day.
Open doubles defending champions Ben Lane and Sean Vendy also sailed through to set up a meeting in the semi-finals with the pair they beat in the showpiece last year, Alex Green and Brandon Yap.
In the other half of the draw, second seeds Rory Easton and Zach Russ will meet Callum Hemming and Ethan van Leeuwen, who have both enjoyed flawless campaigns so far.
A new name will be etched on the open singles trophy after the only returning former champion Toby Penty was beaten 21-7 21-15 by top seed Harry Huang.
Huang will play Dinuka Karunaratne in the semi-finals tomorrow while second seed Nadeem Dalvi will face Cholan Kayan.
In the women’s singles, defending champion Kirby Ngan, who won the 2023 title as an unseeded player, has safely reached the semi-finals.
Ngan defeated Alexandra Oprisan 21-15 21-13 to make the last four where she is joined by Lisa Curtin, Tashvi Parab and Leona Lee.
With special thanks to YONEX, the official sports equipment partner of the English National Badminton Championships
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