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_28 May, 2025_ HARRY HUANG LED THE WAY FOR ENGLAND AT THE AUSTRIAN OPEN AS HE CLAIMED THE SILVER MEDAL IN THE MEN’S SINGLES COMPETITION. The Super 750 competition also saw a podium finish
for Lisa Curtin and Sian Kelly in the women’s doubles, as they took home a bronze medal in a successful tournament for English players. Huang progressed through the quarter-finals by beating
Singapore’s Lau Jun Hui Marcus 21-9 21-12 in straight games. It set up a semi-final clash against Chinese Taipei’s Liao Jhuo-Fu, resulting in a mammoth battle on the court. Huang took the
first advantage as he won the first game 21-16 but Liao hit back to claim the second set 23-21. As the match stretched to over an hour in length, Huang remained composed to deliver a 21-14
victory in the final game and progress to the gold medal match. In the final, Huang met top seed Magnus Johannesen and fell to 21-17 21-14 defeat against the Dane but secured the silver
medal to be England’s best performer at the competition. Curtin and Kelly were in good form to reach the semi-finals of the women’s doubles after defeating Singaporean duo Tay Andrea Jacqui
and Teo Eng Kerin 21-5 21-11 in just 24 minutes in the quarter-finals. They faced Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chih-Chun and Lin Wan Ching in the semi-final with the pair providing a test too far as
Curtin and Kelly fell to 21-11 21-11 defeat. Notably, Robin Harper and Harry Wakefield also came close to a semi-final spot in the men’s doubles as they took their quarter-final tie to a
thrilling third game. Facing Singapore’s Donovan Willard Wee and Jia Hao Howin Wong, they fell to an agonising 18-21 21-18 20-22 defeat. In the women’s singles, Freya Redfearn opened up with
a 21-18 21-18 win over Finland’s Heli Neiman before falling to India’s Adita Rao in the last 16. _Photo credit: Jnanesh Salian via Badminton Photo_