Rory Easton and Annie Lado earned mixed doubles glory in a successful week for a youthful English squad at the Hungarian International Championships in Budaors.
The unseeded pairing overcame Danish duo Mads Vestergaard and Clara Lober in straight sets in the final, coming through 21-18, 21-17 to secure the silverware.
Easton and Lado had earlier advanced in a hard-fought all-English semi-final, beating Jonty Russ and Lizzie Tolman 21-12 in the decider after the first two sets had been shared.
Easton & Lado Take Hungarian IS Crown🏆
Rory Easton/@annie__lado Mixed Doubles Champions🥇
Easton/@ZachRuss27 Men’s Doubles Runners Up🥈 @abs_holden Women’s Singles Semi-Finalist🥉
Jonty Russ/Elizabeth Tolman Mixed Doubles Semi-Finalists🥉
Congrats all👏 pic.twitter.com/yWNH9bamDn
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) November 7, 2021
Easton came close to a double gold, teaming up with Zach Russ to reach the final of the men’s doubles – in which the English pair went in as top seeds.
They justified that status by not dropping a set en route to the final, a run which included a victory over compatriots Samuel Jones and Cholan Kayan in the last eight.
The final saw Easton again meet Vestergaard, this time partnered by Emil Lauritzen, and the English pair took the first set 21-18.
But the Danish duo fought back to take the next two 21-13 and deny Easton a second trip to the top of the podium.
In the women’s singles, Abigail Holden enjoyed a fine run to the semi-finals which started with a straight sets victory over top seed Gayle Mahulette.
Seventh seed Vivien Sandorhazi was toppled in similarly impressive fashion, Holden taking a nerve-wracking decider 23-21 before falling in the last four to eventual champion Wen Chi Hsu.
Estelle van Leeuwen began her competition with a thrilling three-set triumph over fellow English prospect Michelle Ting, winning a decider 24-22 to settle a 52-minute epic before bowing out against Aditi Bhatt.
Fifth seed Freya Redfearn also went out in the second round, losing in straight sets against Thailand’s Sirada Roongpiboonsopit.
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