Wednesday’s matches have ended and so has the first round. Here Viktor Axelsen took a win and Zhang Nan both lost and won
The Danish star Viktor Axelsen took on Kazumasa Sakai in front of a full arena. The first game was a show off of Viktor’s skills which gave him a comfortable lead early on. The game was played with high intensity and was a real crowd pleaser. It was therefore no surprise that Axelsen won 21-12. In the second game Sakai found his way to challenge Axelsen. With sharp smashes and great play by the net Sakai was up 11-3 at break. If Axelsen drank a magic potion or just found mental strength in the break we do not know but he ended up equalizing Sakai at the score 18-18 and after that taking the lead. Loud cheers came from the stands when Sakai sent the ball into the net and Axelsen finally won 21-19.
The Danish mixed double Mathias Christiansen/Christinna Pedersen were up against Chi-Lin Wang/Chia Hsin Lee. In front of a cheerful home crowd the fifth seeded Danes fought to maintain themselves as the only Danish mixed double pair left at DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR. It was a tight game running over to sets and with the result 21-19, 21-17 the crowd get to experience Christiansen/Pedersen at least one more time.
The tournament’s first seeded men’s double pair Gideon/Sukamuljo faced Chinese He/Tan. Gideon/Sukamuljo who are also current number one on BWF’s world rank could not take anything for granted against the world’s number 15. Even though Gideon/Sukamuljo won by two straight sets the scores 21-19 and 22-20 prove that the victory was not just a walk in the park.
The three-time winner of DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR, Zhang Nan, opened Wednesday’s matches with a mixed double. Zhang Nan/Li Yinhui met Ricky Karandasuwardi/Debby Susanto and here the last-mentioned couple took the victory 21-15, 21-15. Read the full summary below.
Zhang Nan had another chance later that day when he and Cheng Liu took on Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe in men’s double. This time things went better and the third seeded Chinese couple Zhang/Liu won 21-19, 21-14.
One of the greater surprises took place in the women’s double. Dutch pair Selena Piek/Cheryl Seinen beat Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Naghara who were seeded six at the Danish tournament. With the scores 21-19, 21-18 Piek/Seinen are ready for another game. In the second round will they face Indonesian Istarani/Pradipta.
These days a badminton festival is taking place in Odense. Beside DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR two other tournaments are also running.
VICTOR DENMARK JUNIOR 2018 presented by DANISA a tournament for Danish youth players started today and will run until the 20th of October. The tournament has 1028 participators this year and it is the eight year it is being held.
After the youngsters’ first matches they were offered to spend their evening at DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR watching their idols. Together with the already joyful spectators they contributed to a great atmosphere during the evening.
Also a third tournament is a part of the badminton festival. VICTOR DENMARK PARA presented by DANISA gathers para-players from all over the world. It is the first time the tournament is held
You can find the results and the match programme following the link below: