Rasmus Gemke has made it third time lucky against Kai Schaefer as the Dane beat the German overall, in three agonisingly close games.
The Dane is the top seed at the tournament and is expected to go the distance in Baku at the Azerbaijan International 2019.
91 minutes to win for Gemke
Gemke was in full control of the match against his German opponent Kai Schaefer but after the first game, winning 21-8, Gemke let Schaefer back into the contest.
The 25-year old managed to get back into the match by winning 24-26 after a controversial decision from the line judge to lead into a third game.
Both players used maximum energy towards the end of the match and in the end, it was anyone’s to lose, Gemke managed to keep his composure and won 24-22.
Ambitions for Baku
Gemke spoke about how the second game turned into more of a fight than a contest, and admitted he was nervous at the end of the final game.
The Dane spoke about what he wants to achieve, now he has reached the last four of the tournaments in Azerbaijan.
- The match was very close, I got a big lead in the second set, I was playing very well. I don’t actually know what happened in that period, Kai played good and maybe I got a little nervous, Gemke said.
- Of course, I want to win the tournament, but I will just take it one match at a time and then we will see, he added.