In the mixed doubles event we have two entries. Jacco Arends and Selena Piek who both make their Worlds debut and Dave Khodabux with Samantha Barning.
Jacco and Selena have a good draw. In the first round the Peruvians Pacheco and Rivero are their opponent, a pair which is unknown to them. Watching the positions on the world ranking this confrontation should be a thriller. The Peruvians are on place 57 and our countrymen on 56 but the Peruvians owe their position mainly to South American tournaments while Jacco and Selena owe theirs to good results in the much stronger EBU circuit. Based on this evaluation I believe that this first round shouldn’t be much of a problem for the Dutch pair. If they survive they encounter in round 2 the winners of the All England 2011, the Chinese Xu Chen and Ma Jin. A nice and instructive experience for this young pair.
Dave and Samantha will meet the Germans Schöttler and Marinello. Although Dave and Samantha fell back to the 79th position on the world ranking while their opponents take place 36 I still think that this could be a nice and thrilling match provided Samantha is completely fit. The past weeks she wasn’t able to fully prepare herself for the championships because of shoulder problems. Both pairs played against each other once before at the European Championships in 2010. At that time our Eastern neighbours won in two games. So time for revenge. If they win the super strong Chinese pair Tao and Qing is waiting for them in the second round.
Tags: badminton, jorrit de ruiter, Londen, mixed doubles, preview, world championships