The audience witnessed a lot of good badminton throughout the whole day. Become wiser on all the matches Thursday by reading this.
World’s number one, Kento Momota, scored a not only expected, but also dominating win against Suppanyu Avihingsanon with a final score of 21-14, 21-13. Friday, he will face Khosit Phetpradap.
Momota can potentially be up against last years winner of the tournament, Kidambi Srikanth, in the semifinals. Srikanth took out the five-time world champion, Lin Dan. The match ended 18-21, 21-17, 21-16
This Thursday, the spectators witnessed plenty of national face-offs. Early in the evening, the local star and former world champion, Viktor Axelsen, met his fellow countryman, Anders Antonsen, in a battle of the Danish badminton crown.
The rising star, Anders Antonsen, won the thrilling match in three games in front of an excited Danish audience. Both players left the audience stunned because of their intense and well-played rallies and the atmosphere was electric. Sadly, the game could only have one winner.
- I’m really happy that everyone wanted to turn up, and that’s why I’m disappointed about giving them a loss, commented Viktor Axelsen before heading towards the locker room.
Axelsen lost 10-21, 21-12, 19-21.
Additionally, Thursday contained two more national clashes. Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto faced Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao. One thing was for sure: One Japanese couple would proceed to the next round. The fifth seed, Tanaka/Yonemoto, won in two games: 21-18, 21-15.
In the next round, they will match up against Du Yue/Li Yinhui who won against their Chinese countrymen, Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan, in two sets with the score 21-17, 21-13. It was quite shocking how easy Yue/Yinhui crushed their second seeded opponent.
The most unexpected win of the day was the win by Marcus/Ellis/Chris Langridge. The English double played some of their best badminton and against all odds they were able to beat the world champions, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen. Friday, the Englishmen will face Laio Min Chun/Su Ching Heng in the quarterfinal.
Saina Nehwal and Akane Yamaguchi opened the second round of DANISA DENMARK OPEN 2018 presented by VICTOR. It was a thrilling match between the two players, who in the past have met each other in several occasions.
In their previous six matchups, the former number one, Saina Nehwal, had lost to the second seed, Akane Yamaguchi. Surprisingly, Saina Nehwal took the victory by 21-17, 21-15.
- I am really surprised. She [Yamaguchi, ed.] has had a couple of very good years, said Nehwal when asked how she felt after finally beating Yamaguchi.
In the quarterfinal Nehwal is going to face the eight seed, Nozomi Okuhara, who won against her fellow countryman, Saena Kawakami.
The only remaining Japanese mixed double, Yuta Wantanabe/Arisa Higashino, was trampled by Malaysians Chan Penge Soon/Goh Liu Ying early afternoon at DANISA DENMARK OPEN 2018 presented by VICTOR, losing with a final score of 18-21, 16-21.
The beginning of the match was, as predicted, very close, and halfway through the first game, it was near impossible to predict which couple would come away with the win. World’s number one, Chan/Goh were better in the crucial moments, which led to a first game win.
Many of the rallies in the last part of the game were long but for the third time in a row, the Malaysians could leave the court as winners against the Japanese, which meant that the veteran couple will move on to the quarterfinals where they are up against Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yujung, who managed to beat last year’s winners, Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet.
Another tournament, VICTOR DENMARK PARA presented by DANISA was packed with action, which it will also be this coming Friday.