England saw glimpses of bright doubles’ futures in both victory and defeat as qualifying finals completed the main draw at the 106th YONEX All England Championships in Birmingham on Tuesday.
Jenny Moore and Victoria Williams will play Danish fourth seeds Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl in the women’s doubles main draw.
The unseeded English pair were left delighted as they beat Germany’s Jennifer Karnott and Franziska Volkmann 21-17, 21-18.
Nottingham & Towler (Photo: Badminton Photo)
Matthew Nottingham and Harley Towler secured a first round berth after winning their men’s doubles qualifying finals’ clash against Scotland’s Martin Campbell and Patrick Machugh at the Barclaycard Arena.
The Anglo-Scottish tussle went the distance before the English duo came through 21-16, 19-21, 21-10. They will now play Liu Cheng and Lu Kai, of China.
Nottingham said: “We were a bit nervous going into the match because of the scale of the event. In the second set we dropped a little bit and they made it hard for us to have momentum and rhythm in the game.”
Rising stars Ben Lane and Jess Pugh’s first All England experience ended on day one, but the pair showed enough quality to suggest they will soon be regulars at the Championships.
Thailand’s world number 75 pair Puavaranukroh Dechapol and Sapsiree Taerattanachai won through 21-15, 21-17.
“We weren’t fazed by the occasion, we didn’t have any expectations coming into it so there’s no pressure and we could play freely,” said Lane.
You can see a full report and schedule here.
Report courtesy of Badminton England
