Semifinals day at the Spain Masters 2021 was full of thrills. Here is what happened and who made it to finals day!
Toma Junior Popov, the winner of the Orleans Masters 2021, now has a chance to compete for another title after a top semifinal display.
His opponent today was former world number 16, Lee Dong Keun of Korea. While the two-game winning scorelines of Lee’s previous matches do not indicate this, he has had some gruelling battles against Portuguese international winner, Ditlev Jaeger Holm, and the experienced rallying experts of Pablo Abian and Misha Zilberman.
Popov himself had a tough quarterfinal, defeating Mads Christophersen 21-19 in the third after 67 minutes – a repeat of the Orleans Masters final. However, he was the fresher of the two and won 21-7, 21-10.
-I am really happy and enthusiastic about that victory. I really enjoyed being on court, especially today because of the cameras. It is the first time overcoming this challenge so I can be proud of that.
Popov will be in his first-ever final at Super 300 and will face Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, who today defeated his top-seeded compatriot, Shesar Hiren Rhustavito. They are both from the same age group, but Popov has another accolade that he will be defending. Popov is yet to lose a final on the circuit – will he make it 11 final wins out of 11?
Christophersen continues her fine run
A repeat of the Orleans Masters, where both Line Christophersen, and her brother Mads, made the singles finals, wasn’t to be this time. Just Line made it through with a strong performance. She came fast out of the blocks against Jenjira Stadelmann of Switzerland, winning the first game 21-9.
The freshly crowned European silver medallist was in control in the second game, eventually making her way to 20-16. A three-point surge from Stadelmann made the Dane doubt herself for a moment, before securing the match. 21-9, 21-19.
In the final tomorrow, she will face Indonesian Putri Kusuma Wardani, who made short work of France’s Leonice Huet.
Danish-Indonesian finals
It will be another final between the two badminton powerhouses in the women’s doubles, as Amalie Magelund/ Freja Ravn came back from a game down to win 17-21, 21-15, 21-14 against the Dutch duo of Alyssa Tirtosentono/ Imke Van Der Aar after 73 minutes.
The Danes will now play Yulfira Barkah/ Febby Valencia Dwijayanti Gani, who dispatched Scots Julie MacPherson/ Ciara Torrance.
Amalie Magelund made it two finals for her tomorrow as she won in the mixed doubles with Niclas Nøhr against Ruben Jille/ Imke Van Der Aar, running away with the decider. The second seeds will face the first seeds, Rinov Rivaldy/ Pitha Haningtyas Mentari.
Popov brothers were so close to final
Sabar Karyaman Gutama/ Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani were able to overcome the formidable temporary pairing for Adam Hall/ Frederik Søgaard earlier in the day. Winning 21-19, 13-21, 21-14.
In order to prevent an all-Indonesian men’s doubles final, Toma Junior had to recover from his singles semifinal and join forces with his brother Christo. Their opponents were Pramudya Kusumawardana/ Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan, who defeated top seeds Kim Astrup/ Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
The French pair found themselves fighting hard but 18-16 down in the opening game. A late run of five points stole the game and got them to the best possible start. The Indonesians took complete control of the second game, this time reaching 19-15.
However, the Popovs tried to emulate what they did in the first. They managed four points to draw level at 19-19, but Kusumawardana/ Rambitan somehow found a way to get over the line. Then in the final game, the brothers could not do it a third time and lost out 21-14.
For the full results and fixtures, click here.