Mills pleased after battling to All England Open victory

Southwell's Peter Mills believes he and doubles partner Andy Ellis’ ability to adapt means the future is bright after reaching the main draw of the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham.

Mills and Ellis battled from a game down to beat Taipei’s Lin Chia Yu and Hsiao-Lin Wu 18-21 21-11, 21-14 in the men’s doubles at the Barclaycard Arena on Tuesday.

He admits that the British pair’s slow start could have cost them but was delighted by their tactical adjustments as the game progressed to seal qualification.

And having had many an epic battle with the Taipei duo in the past, the 26-year-old claims he and Ellis got exactly what they deserved this time round.

“I’m really pleased to make it through,” said Mills. “We had a match against them in Macau at the end of last year and it was close, so we knew we would have to play well to go out and win.

“We didn’t start particularly well but we showed over the next two sets that we were the better pair.

“To come out on top of an experienced team like that was brilliant and we are really happy.

“Making those in-game adjustments is what it’s all about – you can’t always come out and have everything working.

“They did have a few set-pieces that we didn’t deal with right at the start but as we started to cope with those we really settled into the game.

“When we played our game we dominated – that’s not always an easy thing to do because you can easily get drawn into what other people are doing.”

Mills and Ellis next face former world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the first round of the main draw on Wednesday.

The Indonesian duo lifted the men’s doubles world title in 2013 and while Mills know the Brits will be heavy underdogs, he sees no reason they can’t cause a seismic shock.

“They’re a world-class pair – they have won the World Champs, so they’re no idiots,” added Mills.

“If we play our game there is no reason why we can’t push them though – we both pushed them in our previous pairs, so I know we can produce that level together.

“I think we’re realistic and we know we’re not the favourites for that game but if we can take our best game and push them then we’ll be happy regardless of the result."

Tickets for the YONEX All England 2015 at the stunning new Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham are available on the door or online at allenglandbadminton.com.