Mixed fortunes for Clark at the Yonex All England
Author: Badminton England
Date: 08 Mar 2007
Category: General News
ANTHONY CLARK made up for his men's
doubles exit early on day of the Yonex All England Championships in
Birmingham today by returning to court late in the evening to win his
mixed doubles opener with Donna Kellogg.
It was another tough day for England
at the National Indoor Arena but they weren't the only ones to suffer.
Despite the great Morten Frost being in former champion Peter Gade's
corner, the 1999 champion and Malaysia Open winner in January went out
to Dicky Palyama. The fourth seed lost to the Dutchman for the first
time and to a European other than a Dane for the first time in 12 years.
Clark and Blair were drawn against
last year's runners-up Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah and although the
world runners-up took the first game they went down 15-21 21-11 21-16
in this third event of the new BWF Super Series.
Clark also had a scare in the mixed
when Svetoslav Stoyanov and Elodie Eymard took the first game before
Clark and Kellogg, who world runners-up and national champions, hit
back to outplay the French pair 19-21 21-8 21-13.
England's lone singles hope Andrew
Smith has climbed to No 14 in the world rankings but it was always
going to be a tall order for him to overcome China's second seed Chen
Jin, who won 21-11 21-13.
But Welsh ace Richard Vaughan got the
better of Holland's world No 16 Eric Pang to fight his way into the
third round 21-11 17-21 21-7. Vaughan's dubious reward is a
second-round clash with world runner-up Bao Chunlai.
European champions Gail Emms and Donna
Kellogg eased into the women's doubles second round but six-times
champions Gao Ling and Huang Sui were too hot for Natalie Munt and
Joanne Nicholas.
But the national champions were joined in the last 16 by Scotland's young pair Imogen Bankier and Emma Mason.
In the mixed doubles, world and
Commonwealth champion Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms had no trouble
getting past Malaysians Chan Peng Soon and Haw Chiou Hwee. Daniel
Shirley and Joanne Quay Swee Ling are next.
Kristian Roebuck and Natalie Munt and
Robin Middleton and Liza Parker produced battling three-set wins to
take their place in the second round.
