Three-time circuit winner in 2015 and European Junior Champion Anders Antonsen (pictured) was the main attraction during qualification on day 1 of the Swedish Masters in Uppsala. The Dane got off to a slow start in his opening qualification match against Michael Spencer Smith before defeating Spain’s Luis Enrique Penalver in round 2. 

In the final qualification match Antonsen was up against Germany’s Kai Schaefer and at one game all it was finely balanced. In the third and deciding set Antonsen and raced into a 13-5 lead but it was at 18-7 where the drama in the match occurred. 

The Dane got a random nose bleed (pictured) which the German assisted in stopping by offering some tissue from his own bag. It took some time to get under control and Antonsen eventually came back on court with some tissue inserted in the troublesome nostril. 

Antonsen looked a little bit uncertain for the remaining points but still managed to control the play to see the match out with 21-12 win in 1 hour and 3 minutes. 

The Dane will now play Kestutis Navickas in tomorrow’s main draw and will look to emulate his run to victory in Belgium from qualification and will certainly be one of the favourites to do so should the troublesome nose cause no further issues. 

Mattias Borg gave the home fans something to cheer about making his way to the main draw while Finland advanced both Kalle Koljonen and Kasper Lehikoinen to day 2 in Uppsala. 

Karlsson one to watch for Sweden

Emma Karlsson, the 17-year-old from Malmo, is certainly a talent to watch in the future for Sweden. Karlsson (pictured below) came through qualification today and her display against Denmark’s Irina Andersen caught the eye of all in the arena. 

Karlsson will now play Finland’s Airi Mikkela in the main draw tomorrow and slots into the very difficult bottom half of the women’s singles draw. Sweden enjoyed a decent day in the women’s singles qualification as Lovisa Johansson also made it through. The Swede will now play top seed Karin Schnaase in round 1 proper. 

Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen also impressed and her reward for a faultless qualification is a match off against Danish number 1 Line Kjaersfeldt. The bottom half of the main draw is packed with Danish talent with Madsen, Blichfeldt and Dahl all intent on making an impression this week in Uppsala. 

For all the results from today’s qualification at the Swedish Masters click HERE

For a Facebook photo gallery from today’s play click HERE