Annie Lado and Abbygael Harris triumphed in an all-English final at the Hungarian International Championships on Saturday.
The unseeded pair became the first English women’s doubles winners of the competition since 1995 after a tense final showdown against compatriots Lizzie Tolman and Hope Warner.
A deciding game was required after Harris and Lado won 21-16 and Tolman and Warner replied by the same scoreline.
The finalists were locked on 20-20 but Harris and Lado clinched two nail-biting points to take the title.
The victorious duo produced a gutsy performance in the semi-final earlier on Saturday, knocking out Dutch pair Kirsten De Wit and Alyssa Tirtosentono in two games.
Bringing home 🥇🥈🥈 at the #HungarianInternational 👏🏼🎉
Good work team! ❤️
Women’s Doubles:
🥇 Abbygael Harris/ Annie Lado
🥈Lizzie Tolman/ Hope WarnerMixed Doubles:
🥈Steven Stallwood/ Hope Warner pic.twitter.com/bJqw23bRSn— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) November 5, 2022
Tolman and Warner claimed an equally impressive scalp in the quarter-finals, where they faced first-seed Amalie Cecilie Kudsk and her Danish partner Signe Schulz to come from one game down to progress 19-21, 21-13, 21-19.
Warner, 21, also made it to the final of the mixed doubles along with Steven Stallwood, where the duo battled hard in a 24-22, 16-21, 21-13 defeat by seventh-seeds Tirtosentono and Brian Wassink.
On Friday, Stallwood and Warner defeated English pair Alex Green and Tolman 21-13, 21-19 in the last 16.
Elsewhere, qualifier Harry Huang reignited his career after a prolonged period out with injury.
He fought bravely against fifth-seed Magnus Johannsen but could not secure safe passage through to the men’s singles quarter-finals.
Likewise, sixth-seed Freya Redfearn’s singles tournament was ended in the round of 16 by Ann-Kathrin Spoeri from Germany.
And finally, Green and Brandon Zhi Hao Yap also reached the last 16 in the men’s doubles where they met their match in the Danish partnership of Rasmus Espersen and Kristian Kraemer.
