Scotland’s Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier capped a brilliant five days in Mülheim when they won the mixed doubles title at the Yonex German Open yesterday afternoon.
The unseeded Glasgow pair defeated Korean third seeds and world No. 11s Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na 21-15 21-18 and their performance this week looks sure to lift them from No.19 in the world rankings.
Blair and Bankier set the early pace to lead 11-6 before the Koreans levelled at 12-12 but the Scots surged again to take the opener on their second game point.
They led 15-12 in the second before the Koreans levelled again at 15-15. But Blair and Bankier stayed calm and went on to claim victory on their second match point after 45 minutes.
It capped a good week for the Scottish pair, who had already defeated England’s top seeds Chris and Gabby Adcock.
It also set them up for the challenges that lie ahead, starting with this week’s Yonex All England Championships in Birmingham, followed by next month’s European Championships in Russia and culminating with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the World Championships in Copenhagen in July and August.
Indian Arvind Bhat's subsequent hard fought 24-22, 19-21, 21-11 victory over Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the men's singles final meant the Scots were the only European winners, yet the mixed doubles final was the most one-sided of the five.
Full results from Germany can be found at www.tournamentsoftware.com
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