July 8 2024
Ben Lane and Sean Vendy made a stirring run to the final of the Canada Open in Calgary.
The men’s doubles pair were England’s only representatives in the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament but flew the flag proudly as
they claimed a silver medal, losing to top seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in a decider.
It ends their pre-Olympic campaign on a high as attention now turns to final preparations for Paris 2024 in only a few weeks’ time.
Lane and Vendy faced home pairings in each of the first two rounds, beating Kevin Barkman and Victor Ho of Canada in straight games and only dropping 15 points in a 21-7 21-8 win.
Pushing the World no 2 all the way 🔥
✅ First S500 FINALWhat a fight in the final!! It’s a silver medal 🥈 for Ben and Sean in their last tournament before the Olympics 💪
Bring on #Paris2024 🤩
📸 @badmintonphoto pic.twitter.com/mrgoyGH8D0
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) July 8, 2024
The third seeds were never behind in their first-round match, winning eight consecutive points in the final game.
Their victory in the second round was even quicker with Oliver Chen and Austin Mao going down 21-9 21-5 in 18 minutes.
Up against Lin Bing-Wei and Su Ching-Heng of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals, Lane and Vendy experienced more of a test.
The world no. 23s were never more than five points ahead in the first game before needing to win the final five points in the second to ensure a 21-16 21-9 victory.
The semi-finals saw Lane and Vendy face off against opponents ranked seven places higher than them as they took on the second seeds Frederik Soegaard and Rasmus Kjaer of Denmark.
Being the underdogs did not bother them, as the English duo took both games at the first time of asking, winning 21-10 21-17 to reach the final without dropping a game.
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— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) July 2, 2024
Another pair of Danes stood in the way of them and a gold medal as Lane and Vendy faced defending champions and world no.2s Astrup and Rasmussen.
Lane and Vendy started superbly winning nine consecutive points to build an 11-2 lead and take out the first game.
But the top seeds came roaring back and were always ahead in the second game to set up a decider.
Astrup and Rasmussen were kept on their toes early on in the final game before the Danes pulled away to retain their title.