DENMARK OPEN 2011 R32 – Gade, Axelsen start convincingly

One can’t stop marvelling at Peter Gade. At an age when his contemporaries have long since bid the game goodbye, the genial Dane, taking on a player who might have been expected to give him a hard time, destroyed his young challenger on the opening day of the Denmark Open Super Series Premier.

Dev S Sukumar live in Odense. Photos: Yohan Nonotte for Badmintonphoto

In his authoritative, immaculate display, the 34-year-old toyed with China’s former world junior champion Wang Zhengming 21-13 21-10 to progress into the second round. Zhengming scratched his head after Gade (photo) clinched the match – as much puzzled as anyone else how the old warhorse could continue to sprint ahead.

Their hearts warmed up by the veteran’s display, the packed crowd was full-throated in its approval of Gade’s likely inheritor, the teenaged Viktor Axelsen (photo). The local boy gave a sample of his abilities with a straight-game disposal of the wily Przemyslaw Wacha, using his steep smashes and flicks to keep the Pole scampering around.

Gade’s great rival Taufik Hidayat went within a blink of a first-round upset. Taufik huffed and puffed to an unconvincing and fluky win over Hans Christian Vittinghus – the Dane muffed a match point in the second and gave away a handy lead in the third. Taufik looked leaden-footed for the most part, and it was perhaps Vittinghus’s lack of self-belief that helped the Indonesian to eke out the victory.

Most of the Chinese machines rumbled without trouble into the second round, except Cheng Shu and Pan Pan, who fell to the defensive wall of Takahashi/ Matsutomo, and eight seeds Guo Zhendong/ Chai Biao who were upstaged by the Malaysian pair Hoon Thien How / Tan Wee Kiong.

However, the Malaysians themselves would have come away disappointed, after star pair Koo Kien Keat/ Tan Boon Heong were given the short shrift by Cho Gun Woo / Kwon Yi Goo of Korea, 21-12 in the decider. No trouble for Lee Chong Wei as he warmed up late in the match over India’s P Kashyap.

Most of the Indians had a rough day. Jwala and Ashwini were stumped by the pair they had beaten for the Commonwealth gold – Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei. Diju and Jwala (photo)were match point down against Fuchs and Birgit Michels, but scrambled through.

”The shuttles were very heavy,” said Jwala, who’s never short of a good quote. ”I wasn’t happy with some of the line decisions either. Ashwini had some pain in her hand, that’s why we played so badly in the women’s doubles.”

Saina and Anand Pawar were the ones left in the singles after Ajay Jayaram and Kashyap fell.

All results HERE

Live streaming HERE

Badmintonphoto’s best pictures of the day HERE