The second round of this year’s All England proved to be incredibly tough for the European contenders. Despite a few bright spots, 11 players and pairs were reduced to just 3.
The day started promisingly with France’s Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue. After losing the first set 21-19, they fought back brilliantly to win the match 19-21, 21-17, 21-14.
Kirsty Gilmour faced an enormous challenge against world number one An Se Young. After losing the first set 21-12, Gilmour staged a thrilling comeback to take the second set 21-16. Unfortunately, the third set didn’t go her way, ending 21-8. After the match, Gilmour had nothing but praise for her opponent:
"Even when you think you’ve got her on the ropes, she somehow gets back in perfect balance and plays a quality shot back."
Scotland’s mixed doubles pair, Alexander Dunn and Julie Macpherson, faced top-seeded Tan/Lai from Malaysia. The Scots had little chance in this matchup, falling 21-9, 21-10. Meanwhile, the Stoeva sisters battled hard against Japan’s third-seeded Matsuyama/Shida. They came close to snatching the second set but ultimately lost 21-14, 21-19.
Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund had a rematch against their opponents from last week’s Orleans final. Although the Danes won comfortably back then, today’s game was a different story. They lost 16-21, 22-20, 12-21, with Toft reflecting after the match "Today, we didn’t play our best."
On the other hand, Greg and Jenny Mairs delivered one of their best performances ever, making it to their first-ever Super 1000 quarterfinal — a feat you can read more about here.
Frederik Søgaard and Rasmus Kjær, coming off a strong first-round win, couldn’t maintain their momentum and bowed out against Liu/Yang from Chinese Taipei.
The rising French star Alex Lanier took on the reigning world champion Vitidsarn from Thailand. Lanier thrived in the Birmingham arena, claiming victory 22-20, 21-15 to secure his first All England quarterfinal. After the match, a jubilant Lanier said:
"Sometimes I need to be a bit more physical, and sometimes I need to be smarter — today, it was both. I’m kind of proud of myself today."
In contrast, Anders Antonsen couldn’t find his usual high level, losing convincingly to Wang Tzu Wei 21-10, 21-13. Toma Junior Popov also exited in round two after a fierce battle with seventh-seed Li Shi Feng, ultimately losing 21-18, 17-21, 21-15.
The last European match of the day featured home favorites Ben Lane and Sean Vendy. In a heartbreakingly close contest, they lost 23-21, 23-21 to Lee/Yang from Chinese Taipei. The second set even saw the English pair briefly celebrating, only for a successful challenge from their opponents to turn the tide.
This leaves Europe with just three chances to reach the podium: the surprise package Greg/Jenny Mairs, the in-form Alex Lanier, and the red-hot Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue.
Elsewhere, defending champion Jonathan Christie was eliminated by India’s Lakshya Sen, and top-seeded women’s doubles pair Baek/Lee from South Korea fell to China’s Jia/Zhang.