Easton claims two podiums in Austria

Rory Easton Thomas Cup 800

26 May 2024

Rory Easton won two bronze medals at the Austrian Open in the mixed and men’s doubles.

Alongside Alex Green, Easton reached the men’s doubles last four without dropping a game.

He also combined with Lizzie Tolman in the mixed doubles as the two went on an impressive run to the podium.

In the men’s doubles, Easton and Green got off to a flyer with a 21-12 21-11 victory over Viacheslav Yakovlev and Nikita Yeromenko of Ukraine.

They then knocked out the Indonesian eighth seeds Muhammad Al Farizi and Nikolaus Joaquin 21-14 21-18

Against the qualifiers from Chinese Taipei, Wei-Cheng Su and Cheng Kai Easton and Green were dominant winning 21-6 21-18 to set up a meeting with Daniel Edgar Marvino and Christopher David Wijaya.

The pair forced a decider but ultimately lost 21-17 23-21 21-16 to miss out on a place in the final but it did mark a second consecutive bronze for Easton in the discipline, reaching the same stage with Zach Russ last year.

Oliver Butler and Samuel Jones, and Chua Yue Chern and Zach Russ both lost to seeded opponents in the first round.

Butler and Jones fell on the wrong side of a three-game epic, losing 21-16 18-21 28-26 to second seeds Ruben Garcia and Carlos Piris of Spain.

Meanwhile, Chern and Russ tasted defeat to Muyh Putra Erwiansyah and Teges Satriaji Cahyo Hutomo.

Tolman and Easton knocked out two seeds en route to the mixed doubles last four in Graz, opening their account with a comprehensive 21-11 21-12 win over Robert Cybulski and Kprnelia Marczak of Poland.

Another routine win came over Oscar Reuterhall and Fiona Hallberg of Sweden, as the duo won 21-11 21-8 before vanquishing another Swedish pair.

They came from behind against fourth seeds Ludwig Axelsson and Jessica Silvennoinen, winning 14-21 23-21 21-12.

Their campaign ended at the semi-final stage as they lost to seventh seeds Amri Syahnawi and Indah Cahya Sari Jamil of Indonesia.

Also, Oliver Butler and Sian Kelly made it through to the second round before losing a decider to Loo Bing Kun and Ho Lo Ee of Malaysia 16-21 21-14 21-12

Tolman also combined with Kelly in the women’s singles where they lost 21-14 21-14 to Yan Fei Chen and Liang Ching Sun of Chinese Taipei in the first round.

In the women’s singles third seed Freya Redfearn lost a tough first-round encounter to Malya Hoareau 21-15 18-21 21-18, with Lisa Curtin also exiting at the Round of 32 stage.

The lone representative in the men’s singles, Rohan Midha tasted defeat in the first round, losing 21-8 21-15 to Prahdiska Bagas Shujiwo of Indonesia.