THE?SECOND-RANKED?pairs of Jade Browne and Monyata Riviera along with Nicholas Reifer and Greg Padmore have both been eliminated in the mixed and men’s doubles categories of the National Badminton Championships.
Browne and Riviera were defeated 21-19, 18-21, 21-12 by the new combination of Sabrina Scott and Sabeel Foster at the Community College on Thursday night.
Throughout the contest, Scott did not control the net play as she usually would, but, Foster lifted his game and dictated the tempo to ensure the pair would advance to the semi-final round to face Shae Martin and Amanda Haywood.
Foster later partnered Cory Fanus to foil the hopes of Greg Padmore and Nicholas Reifer who were aiming to reach the finals of the men’s doubles category for a second consecutive year.
Fanus and Foster wasted no time in applying the pressure and despite improved shot selection and stroke consistency, Reifer and Padmore simply had no answer to the dynamic pair and lost 21-13, 22-20.
The defending women’s pair of Mariama Eastmond and Shari Watson met stiff opposition in Riviera and Tamisha Williams.
After dominating the first game to set the tone of the match by pressuring Riviera, Eastmond changed strategy in the second which allowed her opponents to apply the pressure to her instead, and thus tie the contest.
In the final game, Riviera and Williams went to the interval with a four-point advantage (11-7). However, the champions inched their way back into the match and levelled the scores at 14.
They teams traded points to 19 and the tension was palpable when Watson and Eastmond went ahead 20-19. They sealed the contest after Eastmond pushed the shuttle deep to the backhand side of Riviera, where she could only manage a weak lift, which Eastmond easily dispatched with a net kill.
Dakiel Thorpe defeated Cory Fanus 21-14, 21-14 in another intriguing contest to secure a semi-final match-up against doubles partner and current national champion Bradley Pilgrim.
Unlike the fast and powerful game he played the previous night against Foster, Thorpe played a measured and controlled game against the young Fanus. (PR)
