MacGregor reaches semi-final in Holland

Jack MacGregor and England’s Sian Kelly reached the semi-finals of the mixed doubles at the Dutch International over the weekend.

They opened their campaign with a 21-11 21-16 win over Kelly’s compatriots Steven Smallwood and Lizzie Tolman in round one before upsetting the formbook in round two by ousting Finnish fourth seeds Anton Kaisti and Inalotta Suutarinen 21-19 21-19.

A 21-14 21-13 win over Danish pair Jesper Toft and Natasja Anthonisen put the Anglo-Scottish pair into a semi-final clash with William Villeger and Vimala Heriau, who had knocked out the top seeds in the quarter-finals.

But though MacGregor and Kelly pushed the French pair all the way, they ultimately capitulated 21-17 20-22 21-13 in a match lasting almost an hour.

In the women’s singles Holly Newall battled to an excellent, beating Leonice Huet of France 21-15 27-25.

That put her through to a second round clash with another French player, top seed Qi Xuefei, who proved too strong, winning 21-16 21-14.

Newall and Ireland’s Rachel Darragh also won their first round in the women’s doubles, downing Asmita Chaudhari and Annie Lado 21-10 21-12, but then suffered defeat to French third seeds Vimala Heriau and Margot Lambert 21-19 21-11.

There were disappointing first round losses for Christopher and Matthew Grimley and MacGregor and Ciar Pringle in men’s doubles.

Full results are at www.tournamentsoftware.com