Day 3 Preview: Mixed doubles takes centre stage
It’s quarter-finals day at the YONEX All England Open and we have ten back-to-back blockbusters on Geoff Rofe Court.
Top seeds collide in the mixed doubles as fast-improving French duo Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue aim for a second Super 1000 semi-final berth of the season. They will go in as underdogs against Malaysian third seeds Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, who they have never beaten.
World silver medallists and defensive maestros Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino continue to loom large over the draw and they also face a seeded Malaysian pair in Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing.
Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith didn’t hide from their struggles on court in the second round – but they remain firmly in the hunt, and are the penultimate game on the TV court against Danes Mikkel Mikkelsen and Rikke Soby.
Meanwhile, Kento Momota is building ominously into his YONEX All England campaign and takes on world No.10 Lee Zii Jia, hoping for a seventh successive victory over the Malaysian.
HSBC BWF World Tour finals winner Anders Antonsen faces Kanta Tsuneyama on Court 2 and his compatriot Viktor Axelsen confronts a tie against Sitthikom Tammasin.
Women’s singles stars are aligning with PV Sindhu and Akane Yamaguchi’s first meeting in a year a tantalising prospect. That’s before you talk about the draws that pit Mia Blichfeldt against Ratchanok Intanon and Nozomi Okuhara and Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
Ellis and Chris Langridge oppose Japanese third seeds Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda in the men’s doubles, followed by Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe’s meeting with Mathias Christiansen and Niclas Nohr.
