British pair win title to boost Olympic hopes

BySportsbeat

Published 03/04/2016 at 14:33 GMT

National badminton champions Heather Olver and Lauren Smith boosted their Olympic qualification hopes with victory in the Orleans International 2016 women’s doubles final in France on Sunday.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

England’s top seeds overcame unseeded French duo Delphine Delrue and Lea Palermo, 21-19, 21-8.

Smith said: “We’re really happy to have won this week, it’s good to take confidence going forward.

“In terms of Rio we are just focusing on performing every game, one at a time.”

13/03/2024 at 12:28

Runners-up last year, Olver and Smith were ruthless in the opening game as they looked to avoid a repeat of their 2015 heartache.

After building an initial 9-4 lead they later moved 16-13 ahead before closing out game one.

In the second, Olver and Smith stormed into an 11-0 lead and kept cool heads to get over the line.

Next on the calendar for Olver and Smith is this week’s Malaysian Open as the countdown to Rio continues.

Sportsbeat 2016

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