World Tour Finals: Ecstatic English; Unperturbed Marin
Ben Lane and Sean Vendy, playing their first season finale and needing a win in their last group match to qualify for the semifinals, breezed past Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi to achieve a milestone in their career.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The England duo were in a virtual shootout with the Malaysians for second place in Group A behind Wang Chi-Lin and Lee Yang. Down 10-13 in the opening game, Lane and Vendy sprinted ahead with a sequence of 10 straight points; they continued with that momentum in the second game too, leaving the Malaysians trailing well behind as they closed it out 21-15 21-13.
“We were enjoying ourselves for sure. It’s probably one of the biggest matches of our careers so far,” said Vendy. “Whoever won this match today would go through to the semifinals. We knew we might be the underdogs on paper, but we’ve been playing well throughout these last three weeks and we were confident going into this match.
“It’s a great result for us,” said his partner. “We started off the opening game a bit slow and found our rhythm, but my emotions right now are knackered. It’s a slow hall, it’s always a long rally and you have to keep pushing things. It was a case of staying disciplined in this match.”