Chloe Magee (pictured) and Scott Evans gave the Irish fans something to cheer about as both Olympians battled through to the final of their home international in dominant style in Dublin this afternoon. Evans had his way to the final somewhat cleared early on in today’s play as Frenchman Lucas Claerbout defeated the fancied Malaysian Beng Hong Kuan in three sets to set up a semi final meeting with the Irish number one.

Evans had destroyed Marcel Reuter in his own morning quarter finals and by his own admission played some of his best badminton in recent times. “My match against Marcel went according to plan and I played well with very few errors. I think in the whole game I only made two unforced errors which pleased me”

The semi final was not as easy for Evans and while not playing as well as he did in the earlier quarter final he was still able to put his French opponent away in two sets.  “The game against Lucas was not as clinical as my quarter and I made much more mistakes and just didn’t feel as comfortable on court. Having said that it was great to win not playing my best and I am now where I want to be in tomorrow’s final”

Chloe Magee made it a great day for the Irish as she two came through a potentially tough match against Spain’s Beatriz Corralez but not without some drama in the second game. The Irish number one squandered two match points in the second game before composing herself to run out a convincing three set winner to take her place as top seed in tomorrow’s final.

“I stumbled a bit in the second game as I tried to push too hard and force the win but Beatriz is a very good player and she fought hard. I got a run of 11 straight points at the beginning of the third which killed her off so overall I am happy to be in the final” said Magee in her post match interview. Magee’s opponent in tomorrow’s final is Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt after the Dane defeated the fancied German Olga Konon in two very close sets.

The unlikely hero of the day was Dutch doubles specialist Jacco Arends who will compete in two finals tomorrow. Alongside partner Jelle Maas, the Dutch defeated the flamboyant Blair and Tan before Arends accompanied Ilse Vaessen in a semi final win over Germans Schwenger and Nelte. The mixed doubles will be an all Dutch finals as top seeds Samantha Barning and Jorrit De Ruiter defeated Maas and Tabeling in another all Dutch encounter.

Finally the French will have every reason to tune in to tomorrows live coverage on www.badmintonworld.tv as young gun Lucas Corvee booked his final spot in the men’s singles. Emilie Lefel and Audrey Fontaine will fancy their chances in lifting the title after a strong Saturday beating fancied opposition. The French duo will face off against Samantha Barning and Eefje Muskins in Sundays final.

To watch the finals live tune in to the BWF’s youtube streaming portal www.badmintonworld.tv

For all results click HERE

Article and Image by Mark Phelan (Live in Dublin)