Odense: Two time world champion Carolina Marin’s stunning three-set loss to 20-year-old Indian badminton ace P.V Sindhu in the women’s singles semi-finals on Saturday raised an obvious question: Was that the biggest upset in this year’s Denmark Open? And what about the second-round loss by Lee Chong Wei and the quarter-final loss by Lin Dan?
All three are definitely good topics for discussion in the days to come.
The Denmark Open women’s semi-finals on Saturday saw India’s 20-year-old women’s shuttler P.V Sindhu continued her sensational form by defeating reigning two-time World champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the first semi-final of women’s singles in Odense. Sindhu won the match 21-15, 18-21, 21-17 in one hour 14 minutes to advance to her first Super Series final of her career. Sindhu will play 2012 London Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui of China on Sunday.
Li was pushed to the brink of elimination by Sung Ji Hyun of Korea after the Chinese shuttler lost her first set 8-21, and was trailed 19-20 in the second set. It was then the Chinese reeled off three consecutive points to cruise to a 22-20 second set victory. Li Xuerui’s exceptional badminton skill was in full display in her crushing win over the Korean in the decider, roaring in triumph over the demoralized Sung with 21-10 win to book a spot in the finals.
Men’s singles shuttler Viktor Axelsen of Denmark who ferociously raised his game en route to a blowout quarter-final match victory against Lin Dan yesterday, brought in some extra ordinary effort to try to topple No. 1 seed Chen Long of China in the semi-finals, but clearly it was not. Chen orchestrated a surge in the decider when he was trailed 8-12, racking up 11 consecutive points to lead at 19-12, before the Chinese world champion overcame the Dane 15-21, 21-17, 21-16 to earn final berth. Chen will clash with Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto on Sunday.
Tommy Sugiarto continued the upset trend at Denmark Open on Saturday, as he beat No. 7 seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan 21-8, 22-20 in other men’s singles semi-finals in 42 minutes. Sugiarto improved his head-to-head record against Chou to 2-3 after the victory.
Top Korean men’s pair Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong will play world No. 112 Liu Cheng/Lu Kai of China in the Denmark Open final after they saw off another Chinese pair Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan in straight sets 21-17, 21-14. Liu/Lu shouldn’t have been underestimated despite their rankings, because they brought yet another upset at Denmark Open by dispatching World No. 4 Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen 22-20, 11-21, 21-17 in 58 minutes.
Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir continued their dominance in mixed doubles by swatting aside Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin of China 21-18, 21-16 to reach the final of the Denmark Open on Saturday. The No. 2 seeds Indonesians will play No. 7 seeds Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na of Korea in the finals.
Denmark Open women’s doubles No. 5 seeds Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei and unseeded Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan will meet in the final of the Denmark Open after both sealing straight sets victories on Saturday at the Odense Sports Park.
