 Robertson and Wallwork will face the face second seeds in the semis |
Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork advanced to the mixed doubles semi-finals at the European Championships. The British third seeds overcame Russians Alexander Nikolaenko and Valeria Sorokina 21-17 21-18. British number one Rajiv Ouseph reached the men's singles semis after surviving a match point against Scott Evans. Mariana Agathangelou and Heather Olver notched a shock win over French third seeds Laura Choinet and Weny Rasidi in the women's doubles in Manchester. After making a blistering start, the pair's hopes looked over after they let a 16-14 lead slip in the second game to see the match levelled. But Agathangelou and Olver found another gear in the third game to romp to a 21-15 17-21 21-11 win. Ouseph was 21-20 down in the second game but held his nerve to beat Ireland's Evans 15-21 23-21 21-12. He said: "That is probably the best I have seen Scott play so I had to up my level. I am really pleased to come through. "It was a really close second game and it was going to come down to who made the fewest errors and luckily I came through that." Sixth seeded compatriot Carl Baxter failed to reach the last four, losing 21-14 21-11 to top-ranked Dane Peter Gade. Wallwork and Robertson now face second seeds Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk.  | 606: DEBATE |
The Polish pair comfortably defeated Valeriy Atraschenkov and Elena Prus of the Ukraine and will provide a stern test on Saturday. Robertson was satisfied with the result, although he admitted the performance did not quite match Thursday's 21-9 21-12 success against Johannes Schottler and Sandra Marinello which took only 26 minutes. "We didn't quite play as well as yesterday but we played as well as we needed to," he said. "A two-set win is comfortable for us and I always felt we were in control of the match even though we weren't playing at the very top level." "They were playing well and we weren't on top of our game but hopefully we can keep progressing." In the women's singles, Danish second seed Tine Rasmussen saw off Scotland's Susan Egelstaff, seeded eighth 21-8 21-16. Egelstaff said: "I'm disappointed. I didn't really play and I handed her the first set. "But she is obviously playing the best in the world at the moment so there is no shame in losing to her."
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