Circuit

First international title for Coles/Nottingham
Date: 12/27/2011 12:23 PM

With the sun setting on this year’s 2011 Yonex Welsh Open the players on Finals day did not disappoint. The day kicked off with the Mixed Doubles final where the unseeded pairs of Peter Briggs (ENG) & Jui Ern NG (MAS) took on Martin Campbell & Hui Lin Ng (MAS). After 23mins of top quality badminton the Campbell/Ng combo closed out the match 21-16, 21-19.

Men's Singles was up next and the players were definitely all geared up for the task at hand.  Both players reached the final without dropping a set so a great match was defitely on the cards . Just a minute short of an hour the match was jam packed with excitement giving the crowd a great spectacle.  Top seed Niluka Kurunartne (SRI) took the 1st set 21-16, then 4* Chong Chieh Lok (MAS) took the 2nd set 21-18.  With a tense 3rd set, the match was very tight but the top seed reached the finish line first winning 21-19.

Next up was the Women's Singles final but it was very short lived, lasting just 1 minute, as top seed Ragna Ingolfsdottir withdrew after just 4 points giving the title to Switzerland's 4* Nicole Schaller by default. Women's Doubles were next on and Malaysian duo Hui Ern Ng & Hui Lin Ng did not disappoint their top seeded position taking the title 21-16, 21-14 in 28 minutes.

Last final of the day was the Men's Doubles and after taking out 2 Welsh Doubles pairings the top seeds winning streak ended as the Yonex Welsh Open as the title went to the 2nd seeds and current European Junior Champions Christopher Coles/Matthew Nottingham (ENG) 21-19, 21-7.

Another year over and as the courts are rolled away, seating pushed back the International players are heading to the airport and on to their next event. 

CEO of Badminton Wales Eddie O'Neill looked back on the event “I was very pleased that we provided yet another well organised, competitive but friendly event in a great setting at SWNC, great that our young players achieved main draw and looked to have real potential for the future, also that Martyn and Matthew in my view showed what top class doubles is about. It’s a shame that injury affected Carissa and Sarah’s doubles chances but they will get stronger and come again. We owe a lot to our sponsor Yonex, to YC Sports and to the SWNC staff who give 100% support willingly. The volunteers were as always fantastic and for the 1st time ever our BISI primary school sessions exposed several hundred children to our sport, which really pleased me. Already we are thinking about how we can be even better in Olympic year ”.

Results:

XD - Martin Campbell (SCO)/Hui Lin Ng (MAS) vs. Peter Briggs (ENG)/Hui Ern Ng (MAS) - 21-1, 21-19
MS - 1* Niluka Kurunartne vs. 4* Chong Chieh Lok (MAS) - 21-16, 18-21, 21-19
WS - 4* Nicole Schaller (SUI) vs. 1* Ragna Ingolfsdottir - 3-1 retired
WD - 1* Hui Lin Ng/Hui Ern Ng (MAS) vs. 2* Alexandra Langely/Lauren Smith (ENG) - 21-16, 21-14
MD - 2* Christopher Coles/Matthew Nottingham (ENG) vs. 1* Martin Campbell/Angus Gilmour (SCO) - 21-19, 21-7

For full results go to www.tournamentsoftware.com.

Click here to see the previous champions of the tournament which is been held since 1928
For the current Badminton Europe rankings click here

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