By Milly McEvoy in Birmingham
Greg and Jenny Mairs put years of pain behind them to claim a special YONEX All England win in their final tournament.
The mixed doubles pairing, who are also married, had never tasted victory in the main draw in Birmingham but caused an upset by knocking out the eighth seeds.
Only days on from announcing their international retirement, the Mairs held their nerve to beat Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saido 21-17 13-21 21-13 in the first round.
“This tops anything else in our careers,” Jenny said, admitting to being in tears after the win.
“It’s not just the fact that we have just beat the no.8 seeds, a fantastic pair, but to do it on home soil and with so many friends and family watching in our last tournament.
“I can’t put it into words how special it is.
“The crowd really helped us there, after we lost our second game, they made a massive cheer as we walked back on court to start the third and that really gave us a lot of motivation to think let’s make them all come back tomorrow for us.
“I’m so happy and can’t wait to come back tomorrow and do it again.
The English pairing had to ride the wave in the opening exchanges before three consecutive points saw them clinch the first game.
Midorikawa and Saito came back hard in the second to open a decent gap and force a decider.
With a home crowd on their side, the Mairs built an early lead that they never relinquished and closed out the match to spark jubilant celebrations inside the Utilita Arena.
Greg added: “We’ve always played well here. Even the first time we played many years ago when it was the qualification, we had some good wins.
“But the last three years, we’ve lost 21-18, 21-19 in the deciding set and last year 22-20, and I think that kind of showed in the celebrations, it was all those years of pain.
“I don’t know what it feels like to play in the last-16 here. We have won rounds in tournaments in the past, so it’ll just be do the right thing.
“We had a pizza restaurant booked for tonight to celebrate our careers with our family so it might have to be pasta instead.
“We’ll try and get an early night sleep, I always struggle with the adrenaline, but I am so happy.”
Next up will be Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat of Thailand, who are ranked 26 places above the Mairs at 18 in the world.
The two pairs have met only once with the English duo triumphing 21-17 21-16 back in 2022 in the final of the Bahrain International.
Last tickets available for the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2025. Book now to guarantee your seat to watch the world’s best badminton players compete! All England Open Badminton New | All England Badminton
