Alexander Dunn and Julie MacPherson were narrowly defeated in the second round of the YONEX All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham, losing 21-19, 21-19 to defending champions Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui of China.
The Scottish mixed doubles pair had beaten the sixth seeds in straight games the previous week, but could not repeat the feat. Dunn, from Bellshill, said: “We played them last week and fortunately got the better of them, so we came in quite confident. But they came out and had changed their game plan a little bit, were a little bit more fired up.”
Dunn and MacPherson trailed by six points early in the first game but rallied to lead before Guo and Chen edged ahead. The second game was equally tight, with the Scots fighting back to 19-19 before the Chinese pair won on their third match point.
MacPherson, from Edinburgh, commented: “They are defending champions, so they know how to play this hall. We are a bit disappointed not to take the win but obviously pleased with how we managed to play.”
The highlight of the match was a shot from Dunn where he hit the shuttle between his legs. He said: “The crowd was class. We really felt the crowd, and we were gutted we couldn’t take it to a third set.”
