MacPherson and Newall reach Italian semi-final

Julie MacPherson and Holly Newall continued their fine run of form at the weekend, reaching the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Yonex Italian International in Milan.

They opened their account with a 21-13 21-19 win over Annabella Jager and Franziska Volkmann of Germany to reach the second round and a contest against second seeds Anastasia Chervyakova and Olga Morozova.

The first set was nip and tuck until 15-all, when the Russians stamped their authority on the match, winning six points in a row to secure the set and when they reached a 16-11 lead in the second it looked like they would run away with the match.

But the MacPherson and Newall reeled their opponents back in, winning the set 21-19 before controlling the majority of the deciding set and winning it 21-17 on their first match point.

In the quarter-finals the Scots won another three-set battle, beating Danes Christine Busch and Amalie Schulz 22-20 19-21 21-13 but a 21-15 24-22 defeat to another Danish pair, Julie Finne-Ipsen and Mai Surrow, ended their campaign.

Full results at www.tournamentsoftware.com