Birmingham: Much of the buzz in Birmingham on day two of the 2020 All England was on the defeat of World No. 1 mixed doubles pair Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, arguably the greatest mixed doubles pair in the world currently.
In their first career head to head meeting against Robin Tabeling/Selena Piek of Netherlands, Zheng/Huang was trailed by 6-12 in the first game, before levelling the game at 17-17. The Dutch pair then re-took the lead at 20-19 and went on to win the first game 22-20.
After 11-11 in the second game, Tabeling/Piek scored 7 consecutive points before Zheng/Huang narrowed the gap at 17-19. The Dutch pair went on wrapping up the second set 21-17 to set up a quarter-finals encounter with No. 6 seeds Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yujung of Korea.
Mixed doubles No. 4 seeds Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino of Japan were also knocked out of All England as day of upsets continued.
The Japanese pair was outlasted by England pair Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith 15-21, 10-21. Ellis/Smith will play Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong next.
Malaysia’s Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing become the latest Malaysian pair to be sent home with their second round defeat to No. 5 seeds Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti, losing 19-21, 21-18, 10-21.
Meanwhile, women’s singles No. 1 seed Chen Yu Fei of China will set up a quarter-final match against No. 5 seed Ratchanok Intanon on Friday, while No. 2 seed Tai Tzu Ying will meet Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the final 8.
