11 May, 2024
Callum Hemming and Estelle Van Leeuwen made it to the semi-finals of the STATE Denmark Challenge 2024 but lost out to eventual mixed doubles winners Jesper Toft and Clara Graversen in Farum.
Rory Easton and Alex Green also reached the semi-final stage of the tournament but fell short of a shot at crowning glory to another pair of Danes, William Kryger Boe and Christian Faust Kjaer.
Three other mixed doubles pairing advanced to the last eight but a place in the semi-final evaded Van Leeuwen’s brother Ethan and Chloe Birch, Brandon Yap and Abbygael Harris as well as Easton and Lizzie Tolman.
Third seeds Hemming and Estelle Van Leeuwen cruised past Kristoffer Kolding and Mette Werge 21-18 21-13 in their round of 16 opener before a meeting with Calvin Lundsgaard and Signe Schulz in the quarter-final.
England’s mixed doubles pair fought hard to overcome the host nation duo 22-24 26-24 21-16 over an hour’s play.
Top seeds Toft and Graversen stood in their way of Sunday’s final as they emerged 21-17 21-13 victors after taking out Easton and Tolman 21-10 21-13 in the quarter-final.
It was a similar story for Easton and Green who also made the final four after battling through three rounds, including a three-game opener against Rasmus Espersen and Marcus Rindshoj, coming from behind to win 16-21 21-19 21-13.
But a meeting with men’s doubles third seeds Boe and Kjaer proved too much, losing 21-14 21-11, missing out on the final.
Ethan Van Leeuwen and Birch made it to the quarter-finals via a walkover but could not take advantage of the last eight against second seeds Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Phataimas Muenwong of Thailand.
Yap and Harris made an encouraging start in the opening rounds, getting through two matches.
Their winning run was cut short by eventual finalists Marcus Rindshoj and Malena Norrman who won 21-16 22-20 despite a tight deciding game.
In the women’s doubles, Sian Kelly and Tolman won their opener against Anna-Sofie Nielsen and Werge 21-15 22-24 21-16 but fell foul in the last 16 against Kokona Ishikawa and Mio Konegawa 21-17 21-7.
Annie Lado and Harris were knocked out in the round of 32, losing 19-21 21-11 21-7 to Japan’s Akari Sato and Maya Taguchi.
Yap and Kelvin Ho came through qualification and took the scalp of Iceland’s David Bjarni Bjornsson and Kristofer Darri Finnsson with a 21-19 21-15 win but were knocked out by Mohamed Faris and Jia Cheng Kok 21-16 21-11 in the round of 16.
Zach Russ and Chua Yue Chern were overcome by Mael Cattoen and Lucas Renoir 21-18 21-12 in their opening round of 16 bout.
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