All England: Record Double Awaits Watanabe
Yuta Watanabe gave himself a shot at becoming the first male player in nearly two decades to win a double at the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2021 by entering the men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The last player to achieve that feat was Kim Dong Moon, who in fact achieved the double twice, in 2000 and 2002, with partners Ha Tae Kwon and Ra Kyung Min.
After partnering Hiroyuki Endo into the men’s doubles final, Watanabe took the court with Arisa Higashino and outplayed Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith 21-10 21-18, which ensured that all three finals in the paired events would be all-Japan affairs. This will be the first time Japan have clinched three titles at the All England.
Earlier, Yuki Kaneko/Misaki Matsutomo had booked their place in the mixed doubles final beating Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying 21-14 22-20.