Greg and Jenny Mairs claimed a second successive runners-up spot while Cholan Kayan enjoyed a superb run to the final at the YONEX Welsh International Badminton Championships in Cardiff.
The mixed doubles top seeds made it to the final but missed out in a close encounter against Germany’s Jan Colin Voelker and Stine Kuespert, going down 20-22 16-21.
The duo knocked out compatriots Brandon Yap and Abbygael Harris in an all-English semi-final having stormed through the early rounds, coming from a set behind in the round of 32 to win 15-21 21-15 21-12 against Jones Ralfy Jansen and Thuc Phuong Nguyen.
Successive victories in straight games set up a duel with Yap and Harris, where the Mairs pair came out on top 21-18 21-14 before being beaten in the final, as they were at last week’s Irish Open.
Kayan, meanwhile, began the men’s singles competition as a qualifier but won seven consecutive matches to make the final.
That run included knocking out three seeded players, two of which were in the top six, including third seed Ade Resky Dwicahyo, who Kayan convincingly beat 21-10 21-10 in the semi-final.
Finland’s Joakim Oldorff proved an obstacle too far in the final, however, winning 21-11 21-19.
In the women’s singles, Lisa Curtin made it to the quarter-finals but was knocked out as Denmark’s Josefine Redkjaer Jensen came from behind to win 16-21 21-16 21-15.
Ethan Van Leeuwen made it to the quarter-finals in both of his pairings alongside Callum Hemming in the men’s doubles and Annie Lado in the mixed doubles.
Hemming and Van Leeuwen were beaten in two games (21-13 21-19) by Danish top seeds Andreas Søndergaard and Jesper Toft and it was a similar story in his mixed doubles pairing with Lado as Harris and Yap cut short their campaign, winning 21-19 21-17.
In the women’s doubles, Harris teamed up with Lado to progress to the quarter-finals but lost 13-21 15-21 to Natasja Anthonisen and Alyssa Tirtosentono.
Lizzie Tolman and Estelle Van Leeuwen got past fellow English pair Susanna Ogden and Holly Williams 21-5 21-11 in the round of 16.
But they also came up short in the quarter-finals as the third seeds were beaten by fifth seeds Julie Finne-Ipsen and Mai Surrow, who came from a game down to take a 17-21 21-8 21-13 win.
Rory Easton and Zach Russ got as far at the last-16 in the men’s doubles after going a set-up against France’s Natan Begga and Baptiste Labarthe.
But their opponents staged a comeback to win 15-21 21-17 21-16.
The same happened to Alex Green and Tolman in the mixed doubles as second seeds Jesper Toft and Clara Graversen advanced with a 18-21 21-11 21-10 win.
Green lost out again at the round of 16 stage alongside Yap, Jones Ralfy Jansen and Kenneth Neumann prevailing 19-21 21-15 15-21.
Image: Yohan Nonotte via Badmintonphoto
