Alex Green and Jonty Russ found their best form of the season so far during a superb run to the FZ FORZA Dutch Open final in Wateringen.
The young duo came through an epic second-round clash with Andreas Søndergaard and Jesper Toft (21-19, 24-26, 25-23) before knocking out Swedish pair Joel Hansson and Melker Z-Bexell in the last eight in straight games.
Fellow English shuttlers Yue Chern Chua and William Jones awaited in the semi-finals after a solid run of their own, beating third seeds Marvin Datko and Patrick Scheiel of Germany 21-11, 30-29 in the quarter-finals.
But it was the combination of Green and Russ who had the edge on this occasion, winning 21-16, 21-19.
That set up a final against Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard and the Danish pair took the opening game 21-9.
Green and Russ fought back to push the eventual champions all the way in the second game but eventually lost it 21-19 as last month’s Polish Open champions secured further silverware.
Koon Fung Kelvin Ho and Pak Yu Ng also fell against Danish opposition, going down 21-9, 21-10 against William Kryger Boe and Christian Faust Kjaer in the first round.
Freya Redfearn and Abigail Holden were both seeded in the women’s singles draw and looking to lead the charge.
Holden put together a good run to reach the final four, the fifth seed showing her mental strength in a mammoth quarter-final against Jenjira Stadelmann, eventually going through 21-10, 29-27 after surviving four game points in the second game.
That effort took its toll on her semi-final played later the same day, where Holden was beaten by Siti Nurshuhaini 21-18, 21-6, but it was still a positive week for the 22-year-old.
Elsewhere, Redfearn was defeated in the opening round by Milena Schnider and Emily Beach also fell at the same hurdle after navigating qualifying.
But another English qualifier, Gauri Shidhaye, was able to secure a first round win over Clara Lassaux, before bowing out against Insyirah Khan of Singapore.
2021 national champion Johnnie Torjussen was in action in the men’s singles draw.
He was handed a tough first round draw against Irish eighth seed Jonathan Dolan, who triumphed 13-21, 21-17, 21-6 after a hard-fought three-game battle.