Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith won their second match at the Olympics.

On Saturday, Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith got an important win against fellow Europeans, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue. Today, the French talents lost their second match at the Olympics to their Thai opponents, and heading into their second match of the tournament, Smith and Ellis knew that a victory would secure a spot in the quarterfinals.

On paper, the European Games 2019 Champions were the favourites against Joshua Hurlburt-Yu and Josephine Wu from Canada, who the Team GB representatives have never played before on international level.

No doubt
It was all even in the beginning of the first game, but from the interval, there was no doubt about the result. The Brits controlled and won the opening game 21-13.

In the second game it was a bumpier road for Ellis and Smith, who first got in control at the very end of the game. Smith and Ellis won the second game 21-19.

- We are really happy. It was an important match. After a good performance yesterday, we knew it was ours to get through. We didn't play our best in the second game, but we should be pleased that we did finish it in two games, and that we kept our nerve and fought for every point, Lauren Smith said.

- These first two matches were key for us. Who knows what lies ahead? We wanted to get out of the group, and we have reached our seeding, so we are now going to relish the opportunity to play against the top five pairs.

In the last match of the group, which will be a battle for the top spot of the group, Smith and Ellis will be facing Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai from Thailand.