With the weight of expectation firmly on their young shoulders Dutch duo Selena Piek and Eefje Muskens delivered an emphatic two game win to ensure some home interest in tomorrow’s semi-finals at the Dutch Open.
Much has been made about the prospects of this exciting women’s doubles combination and today’s quarter final performance was proof that this Dutch pair certainly have all the core ingredients to go to the top of European badminton.
On the opposite side of the net today stood quality Asian opposition and Piek & Muskens made their opponents from Singapore look more than average in a very one sided match. Mingtian FU and Yu Yang Vanessa NEO had no answer to the attacking power of the Dutch girls as the Singaporean duo looked increasingly nervous on their own serve after a series of early service faults.
“They got off to a nervous start been called four times on their serve so we knew that if we pressured them on their serve they would make mistakes.” Said Muskens to Badminton Europe.
The Dutch took the opening game 21-11 with little or no pressure from Fu & Neo. The second game followed the same template as the opener with the Dutch controlling from the outset. Piek dominated the net exchanges and punched the air with every point won to the delight of the home support.
“With the home supporters behind us it was never difficult to get motivated and up for the game”
The Dutch piled on the pressure and came away with a 21-12 win in the second game in a match that they led from start to finish in each set.
“We had a game plan from early on and we kept to that plan with plenty of variation in our serve and making good use of the flick serve at the right time”
“It is great to be safely in the semi-final and Saturday at the Dutch Open always has a huge crowd which are sure to be behind us” said a happy Selena Piek after the victory.
Zavadsky the day’s unlikely hero
Ukrainian number 1 Dmytro Zavadsky was the happiest man leaving the arena this evening after claiming a semi-final spot in both singles and mixed doubles.
Zavadsky came through his early afternoon singles against Scotland’s Kieran Merrilees in two games before adding an unlikely semi-final mixed doubles spot alongside youngster Anastasiya Dmytryshyn.
“Games against Kieran are always close as he has beaten me in three games and I have beaten him also in three games. In the end I was happy to win in two close games to be the only European in the men’s singles semi-finals. The mixed is a great bonus as we didn’t really expect our result here”
Down to earth with a bang for Bankier & Nedelcheva
After a semi-final defeat at last week’s Bulgarian International, Imogen Bankier and Petya Nedelcheva bowed out of the Dutch Open at quarter final stage. Looking a little tired after a gruelling five week tournament schedule Bankier & Nedelcheva were taken down in two games by Chinese duo Bao & Tang.
“It has been a tough five weeks and we are looking forward to a week’s rest before the French Open Super Series”
In the final match of the day Ruud Bosch and Koen Ridder lost in two games to Chinese pair Li & Zhang with none other than Chinese head coach Li Yongbo as an interested onlooker.
Article and Image by Mark Phelan (Live in Almere)
_________
Follow Badminton Europe on Twitter
Join Badminton Europe on facebook
Subscribe to Badminton Europe's YouTube Channel