Rankin And Chan into Singles Quarter Finals

Rankin And Chan into Singles Quarter Finals

Anna Rankin and Michelle Chan led the charge for New Zealand in the latest round of matches played in the individual events at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, both winning their round of 16 women’s singles matches to progress to the quarter finals. Rankin defeated M M Joseph (Kenya) 21-5, 21-13 while Chan was equally dominant in a win over Carissa Turner (Wales) 21-10, 21-11.

Chan now faces the second seed and local hope Kirsty Gilmour in what is sure to be a white hot atmosphere while Rankin next lines up the top seed for a place in the semi-finals.

“In Delhi I made it to the round of 16 but I am not going to be satisfied with going one better here in Glasgow just yet,” said Rankin. “I am playing the top seed PV Sindhu from India and she is very good internationally, when I saw the draw that was the game I was really looking forward to, without getting too far ahead of myself, now I can look at some video and really focus on it.”

Rankin and Madeleine Stapleton were undone in a thriller in the women’s doubles though, losing in three tight games 20-22, 21-18, 19-21 to A. Rathnasiri and U Weerasinghe (Sri Lanka) to bow out of the competition.

Mixed doubles pairing of Kevin Dennerly-Minturn and Stapleton retired from their round of 16 clash with Singapore with Dennerly-Minturn having felt unwell for the past 3 days and not able to continue. The Kiwis had lost a tight first game 14-21 when the decision was made with Dennerly-Minturn clearly not comfortable with what appeared to be a respiratory complaint.

Sadly the illness then forced a withdrawal for Dennerly-Minturn and Oliver Leydon-Davis in the men’s doubles, gifting a walkover into the quarter finals for a Welsh pairing. Dennerly-Minturn will undergo further testing after experiencing pain and a shortness of breath when put under physical exertion.

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