England’s world number seven pair Chris and Gabby Adcock ousted Indonesia’s three-time champions to keep their mixed doubles bid firmly on track after a brilliant display at the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships on Friday night.
The Adcocks beat Indonesia’s Lilyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad 21-18, 21-16, as they atoned for their last eight defeat against the pair in 2015 to become the first British players to reach the last four of the sport’s oldest event since 2008, to the delight of a packed Barclaycard Arena.
The Superseries champions will now meet Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark for a place in Sunday’s final.
“We’ve broken the quarter-final curse and to be able to be playing on the Saturday and not watching on television is a great feeling,” said Chris.
Gabby added: “We’ve gradually played better as the tournament has gone on and right now we’re over the moon to play in the semis of our favourite event. We are a bit overwhelmed right now but it’s an amazing feeling.”
The rivals had two wins apiece in their last four meetings, but here the Adcocks were right on their game and never let the Indonesians find a run of note.
They won the first game with patient build-up play coupled with tight interchanges, holding pivotal two to three-point leads.
In the second, the Indonesians racked up several errors thanks to some piercing smashes from Chris. They reached match point thanks to a delightful cross-court drop from Gabby and were soon celebrating wildly when the Indonesians netted.
Chris admitted: “We made it hard for the Indonesians and probably played the best against them tonight.
On the Danish pair, Chris said: “They are world-class. We’ve haven’t played them too much but it will be a special day.”
Earlier, Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge put up a brave performance but couldn’t find a way past stubborn Korean resistance in their last eight clash.
The English national champions threw everything at top seeded and world number one pair Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yoo Seong, but fell short 21-17, 21 after an intensely physical encounter.
Full results, timings and draws available at allenglandbadminton.com.
Please credit Badminton Photo if you wish to use the attached photo of Chris and Gabby winning.
