DENMARK OPEN 2013 Day 1 – Honeymoon continues for Gabby and Chris Adcock

The Yonex Denmark Open kicked off this afternoon in Odense with the world’s elite assembled to battle it out for Superseries Premier honours in one of the big five events on the Superseries tour.

Article & photos by Mark Phelan (Live in Odense)

Chris & Gabby Adcock (photo) made their first appearance as a newly married couple and got off to the best start possible against Indonesian pair Vita Marissa & Praveen Jordan. A two-game victory saw the English number 1 pairing slip right back into gear after three weeks away due to their recent nuptials and a honeymoon stateside.

“We didn’t really know what to expect stepping back on court today and we did not put any pressure on ourselves after only five days training since we got back,” said a content Chris Adcock.

The English pair were expected to wear matching shirts with Adcock on the back after their sponsor had supplied both with a fresh kit consignment earlier this week with ‘Adcock’ replacing ‘White’ on the back of Gabby’s shirt. However it was not to be and Gabby appeared with her maiden name on her shirt and was forthright in explaining the reasons why: “We have to go to China in 5 weeks and the process of changing passports and organising visas would have taken too long if I tried to change my name. So for now and until I come home from that Asian trip I will have ‘White’ on my back.”

In a day that mixed qualification with the first round of the mixed doubles, there were few upsets as all the big guns advanced safely. Danish veterans Anders Kristiansen and Julie Houmann defeated sixth seeds Rijal & Susanto however a poor showing in the Dutch Open GP final last Sunday may have signalled the sliding form of the Indonesians, who will be split up as of early November, when Susanto will be paired with Ronald Alexander.

Joachim Persson heads back to Copenhagen tonight after a dismal performance in the first round of qualification against International Badminton Academy stable-mate Kim Bruun (photo). The youngster took the match 21-11, 21-16 before going down himself in three games to Korean Lee Dong Keun.

All results HERE