THE young English mixed doubles partnership who are expected to star in the Commonwealth Games badminton events at the Bolton Arena, won their biggest tournament together by defeating a Chinese pair in straight sets in the final of the Malaysian Open.
Nathan Robertson, aged 25, and Gail Emms, aged 24, beat Wang Wei and Zhang Ya Wen 11-9, 11-4 to take the Malaysian Open mixed doubles title.
The English pair have only been playing together for 18 months. Their best previous tournament win was a victory in the Dutch Open last year and they also took a silver medal at this year's European Championships.
England's other two remaining pairings in the Malaysian Open missed out on finals places after losing to tough Chinese opposition.
Gail and partner Jo Goode lost their women's doubles semi to Zhang Ya Wen and Vhao Ging Ging 6-11, 2-11, while Simon Archer and James Anderson lost their men's doubles match against Liu Yong and Chen Qi Qiu 8-15, 11-15.
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