Yesterday, Viktor Axelsen gave the home fans a lot to cheer when he beat former world number one Lin Dan in straight games after an astonishing performance. And today he came so close – but instead of Viktor Axelsen playing in tomorrow’s Yonex Denmark Open (650.000 Dollars) finals in a packed and enthusiastic Odense arena it is the reigning world champion and top seed Chen Long of China who will seek his fourth Denmark Open title tomorrow. Chen Long stopped the young Danish hope in three games, 15-21, 21-16, 21-17 after 74 minutes of play.
“Right now I'm quite disappointed as I feel like I had my chances. But once again Chen Long came out stronger in the end. With that being said I think that I can look back at a good tournament. I can feel my game moving in the right direction, and I will do my best to keep getting better each day. It has been amazing to play here in Odense in front of a brilliant home crowd”, Axelsen wrote on his official Facebook page.
Click here for all previous Denmark Open champions (since 1935)
“Credit must be given to Viktor for giving me a tough fight. But I think the best match I had with him was at the World Championships in Jakarta (Chen Long won 21-18, 30-29 in the quarter-finals in August),” said Chen Long, who will take on Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto in Sunday’s finals.
Sindhu beat Carolina Marin to reach finals
Unseeded Indian shuttler P.V Sindhu beat the world number two and All England champion Carolina Marin 21-15, 18-21, 21-17 in a closely-fought semifinal that lasted one hour and 14 minutes. It was the first loss for Marin against the rising Indian star in their last four outings.
Sindhu, a two-time bronze medalist at World Championships, will now take on former world number one and reigning Olympic Champion Li Xuerui of China.
Boe/Mogensen and Fischer/Pedersen crashed out
Mixed duo Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen, the world number suffered a semi-final exit as the Danes were beaten 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 by Korean number seven seeds Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na on Saturday.
Photos of the semi-finals day in Odense can be found on
BEC's Facebook page.
The number four seeds Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen fall to China’s Liu Cheng/Lu Ka after a close encounter in front of 2000 fans. The Danes, current European Games champions, were beaten 20-22, 21-11, 17-21.
“It was not the result we had hoped for today, losing the first game after a 18-14 lead is not good enough at this level. Now it’s time to have a relaxing evening and Sunday, then we are off to Paris on Monday morning”, said Mathias Boe on Facebook.
The Yonex Denmark Open Finals:
XD: KO Sung Hyun/KIM Ha Na (KOR) - Tontowi Ahmad /Liliyana Natsir (INA)
WD: TIAN Qing/ZHAO Yunlei (CHN) - JUNG Kyung Eun/SHIN Seung Chan (KOR)
MD: LEE Yong Dae/YOO Yeon Seong (KOR) - LIU Cheng /LU Kai (CHN)
WS: LI Xuerui (CHN) - P.V. Sindhu (IND)
MS: CHEN Long (CHN) - Tommy Sugiarto (INA)
Click here for all semi-final results.
Article by Manuel Rösler. Photos (LIVE) by BadmintonPhoto.