12 June, 2023
Callum Hemming and Estelle Van Leeuwen led the English charge by reaching the semi-finals of the VICTOR Denmark Masters.
The mixed doubles pair showed their class and resilience to make the final four in Hillerød.
They went the distance in all three matches they completed, claiming the deciding game against India’s Reddy B Sumeeth and Ashwini Ponnappa and then Danish second seeds Mikkel Mikkelsen and Rikke Soby.
Fourth seeds Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch proved a step too far in the semi-finals.
The English duo pegged them back at 22-20 in the second but the Danes pulled clear to win the deciding game 21-18.
In a strong showing in the mixed doubles category, Brandon Yap and Abbygael Harris made the quarter-finals.
They forced Indian top seeds Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy to a third game, winning the second 21-16, before being outclassed 21-14 in the rubber.
There was a tough first-round defeat for Jonnie Torjussen in men’s singles as he went down 23-21 21-16 to Huang Yu Kai of Chinese Taipei.
Elsewhere, Hemming combined with Estelle’s brother Ethan to make the second round in men’s doubles where Rory Easton and Zach Russ fell at the first hurdle.
In women’s doubles Estelle and Lizzie Tolman pulled off a confidence-boosting first-round victory before coming unstuck against Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto.
Harris and Annie Lado excelled in a tense three-game win over Amalie Kudsk and Signe Schulz in the first round before meeting their match in American second seeds Annie and Kerry Xu.
Photo Credit: Badminton Europe
