England’s Ellis & Smith reach today's quarter-finals of the "All England Open Badminton"

Source: YONEX 2021 All England Open Badminton Championships. Referrals (2021) https://www.allenglandbadminton.com/news/smith-and-ellis-storm-in-semi-finals-on-fantastic-friday-at-yonex-all-england/

The badminton mixed doubles pair, Marcus Ellis & Lauren Smith lost in three games to eventual title winners Praveen Jordan and Melati Oktavianti last year, the closest the English pair have come to reaching the final since Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg in 2007, which was a year after Nathan Robertson/ Gail Emms won the title in 2006.

Ellis & Smith perhaps underestimated their young Danish opponents today, Rasmus Espersen and Christine Busch, who scored a good win over their compatriots Nøhr and Magelund at the Swiss Open two weeks ago. After a tight opening game, they were able to change gears in the second game and win 21-19 and 21-13. The couple will now play Denmark’s Mikkel Mikkelsen and Rikke Søby who are in the quarter-final for the first time.