Niclas Nohr & Sara Thygesen arrived in Barcelona as a pair with the potential to threaten the podium. Seeded 4 the Danes were one of the late starters on day 1 of the new and fresh Spanish Masters in Barcelona.
In testing hot conditions the Danes knew they would have their hands full against improving Dutch pair Imke Van Der Aar and Ruben Jille. The Dutch took the opening set leaving the number four seeds within a hairs breath of going out early.
The European silver medallists from 2016 came back strong to win in three and will face another stiff challenge in the last 16 against new Malaysian pairing Sueh Jeou Tan and Wei Chong Man.
It proved to be a tough day in general for the Danish mixed pairs with Joachim Fischer Nielsen & Alexandra Boje losing out in three sets. Rikke Soby & Mathias bay Smidt suffered the same fate in three games against Yen Wei Pek & Cheng Tang Jei while the experienced pair of Knudsen and Nielsen were taken the distance by French juniors Juliette Moinard and Fabien Delrue before winning 21-16 in the decider.
VIEW - photo gallery from day 1 in Barcelona here
Sara Lundgaard and Lasse Molhede were the most convincing of the Danish pairs as they destroyed Russian pair Morozova and Zinchenko in two games 21-14 21-11.
There was little joy for the home players on day 1 which consisted of singles qualification and the opening round of the mixed doubles main draw. Alvaro Vazquez (pictured above) was the only winner on day one in the men’s singles qualification with world champion Carolina Marin in the crowd cheering on her home team mates. Marin is not playing this week after been side lined from training the past week with illness.
- I was ill last week which effected my training. I was just not ready to play this week which is a big disappointment for me. It was important for me to still come and cheer on my team mates.