Nathan Robertson and Anthony Clark kept British hopes alive with victories at the All England Championships in Birmingham on Thursday.
Men's doubles pair overcome defeat with mixed success
Nathan Robertson and Anthony Clark kept British hopes alive with superb victories at the Yonex All England Championships in Birmingham on Thursday.
The duo put their defeat in the men's doubles to one side as they both reached the quarter-finals of the mixed event.
Clark and Heather Olver saw off Lee Sheng Mu and Chien Yu Chin before Robertson and Jenny Wallwork scored a stunning win against world champions Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl.
Robertson, Olympic silver medallist with Gail Emms in 2004, said the win marked a huge step forward in his burgeoning partnership with 23-year-old Wallwork.
"We have got to be really happy with that," the 32-year-old said after the 21-14 16-21 21-15 victory.
"I think it's the best match we have played together as a partnership, so we are over the moon.
"If we can just keep this level up now we have got a great chance of winning."
Clark and Olver also impressed as they saw off Lee and Chien of Chinese Taipei 21-18 22-20.
Disappointing
Both performances helped make up for a disappointing display for Britain elsewhere in the competition, with no other competitors reaching the last eight.
The hopes Clark and Robertson had in the men's doubles were ended with a 21-14 21-11 defeat to Chinese seventh seeds Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen.
Susan Egelstaff, the only Briton in the women's singles, departed after a gruelling encounter with Chinese sixth seed Lu Lan, the Scot losing 25-23 20-22 21-17 after 66 minutes on court.
After a strong start in his match against Chinese third seed Chen Jin, Britain's top men's hope, Rajiv Ouseph, bowed out 23-21 21-8.
Earlier, men's number two Andrew Smith lost to former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia 21-18 21-14.
Wallwork and Gabby White went down 21-23 21-9 21-8 to sixth seeds Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna of Japan in the women's doubles.
Meanwhile, arch rivals Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan, the men's singles top seed and defending champion respectively, progressed towards another potential final meeting.
Malaysia's Lee beat Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kunncoro 21-11 21-17 before Olympic champion Dan from China dispatched Hashim Muhammad Hafiz 21-14 21-18.
However, mixed doubles top seeds Zheng Bo and Ma Jin went down to a shock 21-16 21-17 defeat at the hands of fellow Chinese pair Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei.
