Two English doubles pairs occupied the top step of the podium on a successful week at the YONEX Dutch Open.
Callum Hemming and Estelle van Leeuwen won the first final of the day, beating Denmark’s Rasmus Espersen and Amalie Cecile Kudsk 21-18 21-6 in the mixed doubles showpiece.
The English pair had to come from 17-12 down to take the opener, a momentum shift earmarked by Hemming as crucial to the one-sided second game that followed.
“We weren’t quite at the races to begin with, they started slightly better and got ahead,” he said.
“But we knew we could get a run, which we did at the end. We were able to nick the lead, which was a bit demoralising for them, and we kept the pressure on to really put the nail in the coffin.”
Van Leeuwen added: “From the start, it was which pair could get on top at the net.
“My job was to be as hard at the net as possible and let Callum do the running. It worked, we got the attack and we were consistent.”
Hemming was back in action alongside Ethan van Leeuwen in the closing final of the tournament, an all-English men’s doubles clash.
The second seeds were beaten by top seeds Zach Russ and Rory Easton, who triumphed 23-21 21-17 over 44 minutes.
“We couldn’t be happier, it’s definitely the best win of our career so far,” Easton said.
“They [Hemming and Van Leeuwen] played really well, it was a really good match which was great fun to play in.” Russ added:
“It was physical, it was always going to be a great match against those guys and we’re just happy to come through it.”
Estelle Van Leeuwen also enjoyed a strong run in the women’s doubles alongside Lizzie Tolman, the pair reaching the semi-finals before going down 16-21 20-22 against top seeds and eventual winners Debora Jille and Cheryl Seinen, who lifted the trophy on home soil.
Elsewhere in the men’s doubles, Alex Green and Brandon Yap made it to the last eight before losing to Hemming and Ethan van Leeuwen, while Koon Fung Kelvin Ho and Samuel Jones exited at the first round stage.
Ethan van Leeuwen teamed up with Annie Lado in the mixed doubles, reaching the second round.
In the men’s singles, Rohan Midha went down in three games (7-21 21-19 7-21) in his opening round clash with Karan Rajan Rajarajan, while Lisa Curtin suffered the same fate in the women’s singles as top seed Qi Xuefei came out on top 21-15 21-10.
