Birch and Van Leeuwen reach women’s doubles final in Scottish Open
24 November, 2024
Chloe Birch and Estelle Van Leeuwen dazzled at the Scottish Open, reaching the finals of the women’s doubles before losing 21-14 10-21 21-8 to Debora Jille and Sara Thygesen.
The pair did not drop a set on their way to the final and were put under the cosh after losing the first set, but bounced back strongly, winning the second with ease.
However, it was not to be as they could not carry their momentum into the final set and ultimately had to settle for runners-up.
Elsewhere, Lisa Curtin and Abbygael Harris, as well as Annie Lado and Sian Kelly, both reached the second round before they were defeated.
Birch and Van Leeuwen also took part in the mixed doubles, and they both reached the second round, partnering Estelle’s brother Ethan and Callum Hemming respectively.
However, the standout pair were Lado and Samuel Jones, who reached the semi-finals after battling past Dutch duo Ties Van Der Lecq and Debora Jille 21-18 20-22 23-21.
Unfortunately, they could not replicate this form in the next round, losing in straight sets, while Harris and Robin Harper also impressed with their run to the quarters.
Hemming and Ethan van Leeuwen also played together in the men’s doubles and reached the second round, but came unstuck against Scottish duo Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle, losing 21-17 21-19.
Jones and Oliver Butler also reached the second round while Chua Yue Chern and Koon Fung Kelvin Ho made it all the way to the quarter-finals but lost to eventual winners William Kryger Boe and Christian Faust Kjaer in straight sets.
In the men’s singles, qualifier Ethan Rose made a brilliant run to the semi-finals before falling to top seed and eventual winner Julien Carraggi 21-13 21-17.
Elsewhere Nadeem Dalvi triumphed in a three-set epic against Karan Rajan Rajarajan, winning 21-18 20-22 21-9, but fell to fourth seed Arnaud Merkle in the next round, while Harry Huang lost in the first round.
Last but not least, Freya Patel-Redfearn made it through to the second round in the women’s singles but was ultimately defeated in straight sets by fifth seed Kaloyana Nalbantova.
