A visibly cool and collected Scott Evans strolled into the quarter finals of his home tournament in Dublin this afternoon to send out a clear warning to his competitors that he is ready, focused and in the form to contend for the title come Sunday afternoon.

Evans, who in the past fell foul to the weight of home expectations, clearly showed calmness in both his opening matches as he set off on his journey to the top step of the podium. The Dublin Native ended the challenge of Irish Future Series finalist, Maxime Michel in two sets early in the day before taking down England’s Daniel Groom in the second round by a similar score.

“It was important to get the first round out of the way and in the second game I felt in control and comfortable. The business end of tournament starts now and I play Marcel Reuter in the quarters. I have a good record against Marcel so I am looking forward to it” commented Evans

In the women’s singles Spain’s Beatriz Corrales put the troubles of her home federation behind her as she coped admirably without the assistance of her coach to book her quarter final spot. The cheerful Spaniard took down Alina Hammes in the opening round before physically out running Carola Bott in the second round.

“It was a good feeling for me today. I feel pretty good on court and I am actually enjoying playing without the aid of a coach, which is because of the financial recession at home. It has helped me work more on my own and make decisions which suit my game” said the Spanaird in her post match interview.

Olga Konon continued her return to form after injury by defeating Irish opposition in both rounds as expected of the classy German. Denmark will have a lot of input as to the destination of the medals come Sunday as their tri of Anna Thea Madsen, Natalia Koch Rhode and the back in form Line Kjaersfeldt all booked their place in the quarter finals.

In the mixed doubles The Netherlands look like the force to beat as they so often do in mixed as they advanced all their three pairs to tomorrow’s quarter finals. De Ruiter and Barning barely exerted themselves in two easy matches while Jelle Maas and Iris Tabeling were pushed in both games but by superior opposition. In the bottom half of the draw Irelands Sam & Chloe Magee displayed their undoubted credentials as they cruised through two early rounds. The Irish second seeds will now face a much stiffer test against German duo Schwenger and Nelte in the quarter final.

“It is a big ask here this week especially with such a demanding schedule of matches so it was good for us to get through the early rounds relatively easy. For me it is four games today combining singles and mixed but the support lifted us through also which was great” said Chloe Magee in her post match interview.

The men’s doubles opening round went according to seeding but the Dutch top seeded duo of Dave Khodabux and Jorrit De Ruitter used their get out of jail free card in a 24-22 24-22 victory over German duo Pistorius and Seidel.

In the women’s doubles there was pain in the true sense of the word as Scotland’s Caitlin Pringle was forced to withdraw from the competition after winning alongside Belgium partner Jelske Snoeck after the tall Scot fell foul to a niggling back spasm that forced her withdrawal after her victory. One pair’s loss is another’s gain and as a result Irelands Coyle and Ryan progress to the quarter finals by virtue of a walkover.

The Carlton Irish Open is being broadcast all week on the BWF streaming portal www.badmintonworld.tv as well as around Europe via www.aertv.ie via the Badminton Ireland website.

Tune in for details of daily competitions with the chance to win a range of badminton goodies. Don’t forget to download the new Badminton Ireland app available for android and Iphone for all the latest news from the tournament.

For all tournament results click HERE

Article and Image by Mark Phelan (Live in Dublin)