Birch & Smith beaten in SaarLorLux Open final but Lakshya Sen denies Chinese sweep

Chloe Birch & Lauren Smith’s bid for the SaarLorLux Open women’s doubles crown ended in defeat at the final hurdle.

The English duo were beaten in straight games by Chinese third seeds Liu Xuan Xuan & Xia Yu Ting 21-16 21-13 in the showpiece game at the BWF World Tour Super 100 event.

That victory was one of four on the day for China, who were only denied a clean sweep in the men’s singles by Indian competitor Lakshya Sen.

Birch & Smith may have been seeded one spot higher than their final opposition but came up against a partnership entering on the back of two good performances at Super 750 events.

Liu & Xia now sit nine places above the English pair at No21 in the world rankings, having risen seven spots this week as a result of a run to the quarter-finals of the Yonex French Open, and a last-16 defeat at the Danish Open.

Back in Saarbrucken, the Chinese opened strongly by opening up a 6-1 advantage from the off, never allowing Birch & Smith to level before taking the opening game.

The second stanza was closer as the pairs were never more than two points apart heading into the mid-game interval.

But from there Liu & Xia took control, putting together a run of four points and then three points twice to finish strongly and take the title.

Despite defeat the run to the final was an important uptick in form for Birch & Smith on the back of four consecutive first-round defeats – albeit three of them taking place at high echelon events on the World Tour.

It was also an improvement on last year’s SaarLorLux run, when they reached the semi-finals.

Elsewhere on the day, Guo Xin Wa & Zhang Shu Xian overcame compatriots Ren Xiang Yu & Zhou Chao Min 21-18 21-19 in the mixed doubles final, while Li Yun eased past Dane Line Christophersen 21-12 21-13 for the women’s singles crown.

But ultimate Chinese dominance was denied when eighth seed Sen came from a game behind to best Weng Hong Yang 17-21 21-18 21-16.

The day ended with World Junior Championships silver medalists Di Zi Jian & Wang Chang – responsible for ousting Olympic bronze winners Marcus Ellis & Chris Langridge in the last eight – overcoming Denmark’s Mathias Bay-Smidt & Lasse Molhede 21-17 21-15.

Birch & Smith’s characterful display seals SaarLorLux Open final place

Two gutsy games booked Chloe Birch & Lauren Smith into the women’s doubles final at the SaarLorLux Open.

The English duo saw off the challenge of home players Linda Efler & Isabel Herttrich 24-22 21-19 to go one better than last year’s run to the semi-final in Germany.

But they did not have it all their own way, having to claw back into both games late on to seal a showdown with China’s third seeds Liu Xuan Xuan & Xia Yu Ting.

The lead changed hands multiple times in the first game before Efler & Herttrich opened up a 19-16 lead, only for the English pair to go on a run of four straight points.

It took Birch & Smith three game points to clinch it – having also had to save one.

They found themselves behind throughout game two, including an early 7-1 disadvantage, and would not take the lead until again fighting back from 19-16 behind, reeling off five straight points to make it through.

“Into The Final!” Smith posted on Instagram. “Good bit of character coming back from a deficit in both sets to win today! One more to go.”

Birch & Smith are second on the bill for Sunday’s finals day as they chase a fourth title of 2019 and second at BWF World Tour Super 100 level.

In other English action on semi-finals day, Ben Lane & Sean Vendy were knocked out by Danish duo Mathias Bay-Smidt & Lasse Molhede 21-18 22-20.

After Bay-Smidt & Molhede saw out the first game well, Lane & Vendy passed up a game point in the second as the seventh seeds pushed through to a final meeting with Chinese up and comers Di Zi Jian & Wang Chang, responsible for knocking out Marcus Ellis & Chris Langridge the previous day.

In the men’s singles Toby Penty had a tough time against Weng Hong Yang, whose eagerness to pounce at the net saw him win 21-12 21-11 for a final place against Lakshya Sen of India, who bested compatriot Kiran George in three games.

The women’s singles final in Saarbrucken will pit Li Yun of China against Dane Line Christophersen, while Ren Xiang Yu & Zhou Chao Min compete with compatriots Guo Xin Wa & Zhang Shu Xian in the mixed doubles, as a strong Chinese team attendance chase a sweep of the titles.

PICTURE: Badminton Photo

Top prospects Di & Wang impress as Ellis challenges for consecutive titles fall

Marcus Ellis entered the SaarLorLux Open looking to defend two titles, but both runs at retention ended in the quarter-finals.

Top seeded in both events, Ellis and men’s doubles partner Chris Langridge were beaten in three games by Chinese upstarts Di Zi Jian & Wang Chang, while his mixed doubles campaign with Lauren Smith also ended in defeat.

Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalists Ellis & Langridge fell 21-19 14-21 21-15 to fifth seeded Di & Wang.

The Chinese might be ranked 61st in the world, but already look exciting prospects, entering on the back of silver medals at the World Junior Championships last month, and having then pushed world No1s Marcus Fernaldi Gideon & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo to three games at the French Open a week ago.

They already boast experience on the senior tour this year having reached the semi-finals at another BWF Tour Super 100 event in the Lingshui Chinese Masters in March.

Di & Wang edged a close-run first game, with the second similarly tight until a fine run of points saw Ellis & Langridge finish strongly to level up.

But the Chinese 18-year-olds put together their own streak around the interval in game three, an advantage they would not relent to move on.

Earlier in the day, Ellis & Smith also came up short against Danes Niclas Nohr & Sara Thygesen, who progressed to the last-four with two 21-15 frames.

However, Smith put that defeat behind her to reach the semi-finals in the women’s doubles as she & Chloe Birch, seeded second, took out Russian’s Anastasiia Akchurina & Olga Morozova 21-17 21-16. They now face home players Linda Efler & Isabel Herttrich in the semi-finals.

Thygesen, alongside Maiken Fruergaard, was also responsible for knocking out Jenny Moore & Victoria Williams, although the English pair took it to three games before falling 16-21 21-17 21-15.

Toby Penty eased into a men’s singles semi-final against world No102 Weng Hong Yang with a 21-9 21-15 victory over Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen.

Nguyen’s compatriots Sam & Chloe Magee lost in straight games to Ren Xiang Yu & Zhou Chao Min in the mixed doubles.

A Saturday meeting with Mathias Bay-Smidt & Lasse Molhede await men’s doubles pair Ben Lane & Sean Vendy, who recovered from a game down to beat French duo Samy Corvee & William Villeger 19-21 21-15 21-15, while Scots Alexander Dunn & Adam Hall lost in three to Jones Ralfy Jansen & Peter Kaesbauer, including a thrilling 28-26 loss in the first game.

Marcus Ellis claims win brace in bid to retain SaarLorLux Open dual crowns

Marcus Ellis took two steps towards retaining his double doubles crown at the SaarLorLux Open with a brace of last-16 victories on Thursday.

The 2018 edition saw Ellis claim both the men’s doubles title, alongside Chris Langridge, and the mixed doubles with Lauren Smith – becoming the first player to win two titles at the German event since Robert Mateusiak in 2006.

The 30-year-old and his partners received byes through the first rounds as top seeds in each discipline, Ellis’s tournament opening with a 21-13 21-13 win alongside Smith over Jan Colin Volker & Eva Janssens of Germany in the mixed, where they are keenly chasing ranking points in the hopes of topping Chris & Gabby Adcock in the Tokyo Olympics qualification race.

He returned to court alongside Langridge to down Chinese Taipei duo Lee Fang-Chih & Lee Fang-Jen 21-14 21-18.

The Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalists will now face fifth seeds Di Zi Jian & Wang Chang in the quarter-finals, while Ellis & Smith tackle eighth seeds Niclas Nohr & Sara Thygesen in the mixed last eight, the Danes having ousted Scots Adam Hall & Julie Macpherson on Thursday.

Also still in the mixed doubles draw are siblings Sam & Chloe Magee of Ireland, who overcame Eloi Adam & Margot Lambert 21-18 21-17 to set up a face-off with Ren Xiang Yu & Zhou Chao Min.

Meanwhile, Smith also won through in the women’s doubles as she teamed up with Chloe Birch to beat Maryna Ilyinskaya & Yelyzaveta Zharka 21-19 21-11. The second seeds now meet Anastasiia Akchurina & Olga Morozova in the last-eight.

Fellow English women Jenny Moore & Victoria Williams downed Janssens & Kilasu Ostermeyer in matching 21-17 games with top seeds Maiken Fruergaard & Sara Thygesen up next.

The men’s doubles sees Ben Lane & Sean Vendy, third seeds, up against Samy Corvee & William Villeger in the quarter-finals after they bested Thomas Fuchs & Tobias Mund in straight games, while Hall & Alexander Dunn won through against Indian pair Vaibav & Prakash Raj 21-9 21-8.

English men’s singles No1 Toby Penty came from a game down to beat Mithun Manjunath 15-21 21-19 21-11 and will face Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the quarter-finals, after he beat another Indian opponent in BM Rahul Bharadwaj 21-18 21-14.