The 2015 Finnish Open held in Vantaa, Finland, offered exciting matches with the favourites taking the titles in the women’s singles, women’s and mixed doubles. But the 15.000 Dollars event also saw some upsets in the other categories.
The tournament’s biggest surprise was probably that Henri Hurskainen who was the top seeded men’s singles star, lost his first round match against Dutch Erik Meijs. Finland’s number one shuttler and home crowd favourite Ville Lång lost to Italian Indra Bagus Ade Chandra in the first round. Also Urkaine’s Dmytro Zavadsky who celebrated the victory in last week’s Orleans International lost his first match to Danish Steffen Rasmussen in two straight games.
Malkov takes Russia's first men's singles title
Finland’s Eetu Heino met Russian shuttler Vladimir Malkov in Sunday’s final. Heino was the only Finn to advance to the finals of this year’s Finnish Open 2015. Actually he is the first Finn who stood in the Finnish Open finals in five years. But this time, Malkov was the stronger player and managed to beat Heino in two straight games 21-18, 21-15. Malkov is the first Russian winner in men’s single in Finnish Open.
- I have good feelings about the game, I’m really happy now. I felt it was quite a nervous game, says Malkov.
- Eetu was nervous and made many mistakes but otherwise Eetu played really well and the game wasn’t easy for me, Malkov continues.
- I’m satisfied with the tournament but of course the last game was disappointment because I had chance to win it. I made too many mistakes and Malkov played well, Heino describes the final.
The Finnish TV channel Yle Uutiset produced a 79 minute-highlights. Click here to watch it.
In women’s single category, Spanish star Beatriz Corrales faced Indonesian Febby Angguni in the final. The top seed from Spain proved her seeding spot as she won the title of the International Challenge event. She defeated Febby Angguni with 21-19, 21-12.
- I have no words to explain how it feels to be Finnish Open champion. I’m very glad for my performance today. It was very important to beat her in two games. I’m so happy, says the champion after the game.
- I think that Angguni has played a really good tournament. She had lot of matches, so it’s normal that she was a little bit tired. But even she was tired she was trying to fight, describes Corrales her opponent.
- I was really tired after the qualifications, says Angguni after the game.
In the men’s doubles, the gold medals went to English pair Andrew Ellis and Peter Mills. They reached the final without being one of the seeded players and faced the Danish duo of Mathias Christiansen and David Daugaard, who were the third seeds in the tournament. Ellis and Mills won in two straight games 21-19, 21-12.
- This is our first final as a pair, so I’m really happy that we won today. The arena was really good and we enjoyed the tournament, says Mills.
- We played as good as we needed to, it may wasn’t the best game for the fans, but we won. I’m really happy for that, told Ellis.
Their compatriots, Heather Olver and Lauren Smith, celebrated a victory in the women’s doubles event. The English ladies and top seeds beat French pair Delphine Lansac and Emilie Lefel.
- We are really happy. We came here number one seeded and we are glad that we actually could take the title here in Finland. It has been really good tournament, the English pair says.
Russia became the most successful country of this year’s Finnish Open. In the mixed doubles final, second seeded Anatoliy Yartsev and Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia faced the top seeds Gaetan Mittelheisser and Audrey Fontaine of France. The Russians won in three games 16-21, 21-17, 21-10.
- We are very happy. We lost the first game because we didn’t know what to do because the French played differently as expected, but in the second and third game we played well and sticked to our plan, tells Yartsev after the game.
The finals results:
MS: Vladimir Malkov (RUS) - Eetu Heino (FIN) 21-18, 21-15
WS: Beatriz Corrales (ESP) - Febby Angguni (INA) 21-19, 21-12
MD: Andrew Ellis/Peter Mills (ENG) - Mathias Christiansen/David Daugaard (DEN) 21-19, 21-12
WD: Heather Olver/Lauren Smith (ENG) - Delphine Lansac/Emilie Lefel, (FRA) 21-13, 23-21
XD: - Anatoliy Yartsev/Evgeniya Kosetskaya (RUS) - Gaetan Mittelheisser/Audrey Fontaine (FRA) 16-21, 21-17, 21-10
Click here for full results of the 2015 Finnish Open.
Click here for all photos from Sunday.
Watch the winners' interviews (YouTube) here.
Article by Sara Anttila. Photo by Joonas Puhakka.