Mia Blichfeldt came through an epic three set thriller against team mate Line Kjaersfeldt this afternoon to book her place in her first BWF Super 300 tournament.
The 21-year-old from Solrod Strand in Denmark got off to the best start taking the opening set 21-18 after pulling away towards the end after an evenly matched set. Kjaersfeldt bounced back in the second and after taking the first four points of the set was never headed to win 21-19.
It was not until the third and deciding set that all the drama occurred and it was Klaersfeldt who looked odds on to make the final after racing into an 10-3 lead. Something in the demeanour of Blichfeldt changed at that point and instead of the usual vocal shouts on winning a point an eerie calmness came across the Dane and point by point she clawed her way back into the set.
From nowhere the match was level at 11-11 before Kjaersfeldt stretched her legs again and eked out a 17-13 lead. Again Blichfeldt stayed immensely calm and for the second time in the set clawed her way back to level up at 18-18.
- I just kept telling myself to stay calm and keep believing. It was tense and I knew whoever could manage the emotions best had the best chance to win.
For the third time in the set Kjaersfeldt once again got her nose in front and this time it was to claim match point at 20-18. Once again the Blichfeldt looked the more composed of the two and somehow she managed to win four points in a row to win the set and the match.
- At two match points down I went into Japanese mode. I just kept putting the shuttle over the net and into play and waited for my opportunity of for Line to make a mistake as I just felt the pressure was on her to win it at that point.
There was a look of disbelief on Blichfeldt’s face after winning the match and she immediately went to the other side of the net to embrace her opponent and training partner.
Blichfeldt will now play Minatsu Mitani in the final after the Japanese ended the run of Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour.
Smith and Ellis set up all European mixed doubles final
Top seeds Lauren Smith and Marcus Ellis (pictured above) set up and all European mixed doubles final as they easily saw of the challenge of Gondo and Kurihara in two games.
- Tactically we got it right today even though some of the play was up and down. We came here straight from English nationals which was tough so we have to be pleased getting to the final here in Spain.
The English will now play Niclas Nohr & Sara Thygesen in the final after the Danes booked their final spot in the last match of the day.
Elsewhere Rasmus Gemke continues his rise up the world rankings and yet another final at Super 300 will do his points tally the world of good. The Dane won at this level last year at the Bitburger Open and on paper he has every chance to back up that victory in tomorrow’s final against top seed Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand.