Day three saw Wales’s Richard Vaughan go out in the semi final of the Irish Open today in two close games to Denmark’s Mikkelsen.

Vaughan went of to a great start with a 11-6 lead at the break, but this was clawed back by Mikkelsen who had the first match point at 20-19, eventually winning the et 22-20. In the second set Mikkelsen got of to a flying start before Vaughan this time clawed himself back in to the game with a 15-13 lead. Once again a combination of some good play by Mikkelsen and some mistakes by Vaughan saw Mikkelsen take it 21-15.

Vaughan said “It was a tough match and I never quite got in to the game. The shuttles were fast and Mikkelsens attacking style was difficult to cope with. That said I still had leads around the 15 point mark in both sets so there are no excuses. I had a great chance to win the tournament and it’s a missed opportunity.”
“On the positive side I won numerous games which were hard on paper convincingly and I will only get better with the match practice”.

Mikkelsen went on to take the title against Germany’s Zweibler in straight sets.