BRAZIL OPEN 2014 – Max and Carla double up

Max Schwenger and Carla Nelte of Germany, not satisfied with the one Grand Prix title they won last month, each battled to take two each at the Brazil Open Grand Prix yesterday.

By Don Hearn.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

There were plenty of firsts to go around at the 2014 Brazil Open Grand Prix.  For starters, it was the first time the nation had staged a Grand Prix tournament and they were keen to up the level as Rio will be hosting the best in the world just two short years from now.  Add to that the fact that they were the surprise initiators of the testing for the BWF’s new 5×11 proposed scoring system and there was bound to be something new, no matter who won on court.

The players themselves wanted to get into the groundbreaking themselves, though.  The day opened with a somewhat familiar sight as Max Schwenger and Carla Nelte (pictured) of Germany repeated their success from last month in Canada by taking another Grand Prix mixed doubles title.  Their 52-minute match against Ireland’s Chloe and Sam Magee was just about as long as a doubles match will be able to get under the new scoring regime as 100 of the maximum 105 rallies were played.

But clearly it was the winning feeling, rather than the time on court, that the Germans couldn’t get enough of and each went on to win a first ever Grand Prix title in level doubles as well.

Zhang Beiwen of the United States continued her run of form in her new home hemisphere as she followed up her U.S. Open victory with the women’s singles title in Brazil.  She has now won 4 of the five tournaments she has entered in the Pan Am region in the past year.

Finally, Dieter Domke was unable to add a singles title for Germany as that chance at a first ever Grand Prix title was snatched up by Ireland’s Scott Evans (pictured).  Evans, who had earlier in the tournament prevailed in the only men’s singles match to clock in at over 50 minutes, took the five-game final from Domke in just 44 to top the podium in Rio.

Final results
XD: Max Schwenger / Carla Nelte (GER) [1] beat Sam Magee / Chloe Magee (IRL) [2]  10-11, 10-11, 11-10, 11-8, 11-7
WS: Zhang Beiwen (USA) [1] beat Kaori Imabeppu (JPN)  6-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 11-9
MS: Scott Evans (IRL) [4] beat Dieter Domke (GER) [2]  7-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7
WD: Johanna Goliszewski / Carla Nelte (GER) beat Gabriela Stoeva / Stefani Stoeva (BUL) [1]  11-5, 11-7, 4-11, 11-10
MD: Max Schwenger / Josche Zurwonne (GER) beat Raphael Beck / Andreas Heinz (GER)  11-9, 11-6, 11-4

Click here for complete results