FRENCH OPEN 2017 QF – New start from Christinna Pedersen

Christinna Pedersen and Mathias Christiansen proved to be another tough client for the rest of their opponents as they grabbed a highly-deserved ticket to the last four in Paris while P.  V.  Sindhu got her revenge for last week’s loss to Chen Yufei.

By Tarek Hafi, Badzine correspondent live in Paris.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

A promising debut

Christinna Pedersen and Mathias Christiansen (pictured right) had a disappointing run in their home tournament, losing out in the very first round to Zhang Nan and Li Yinhui but they were certainly quickly forgiven, as they are having an incredible run so far at the Yonex French Open Superseries, in only their second tournament as a pair.  The two Danes were engaged in a very complicated first game against Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Puttita Supajirakul (pictured below), trailing 0-8 at the start.

“It was really difficutl for us to adapt to their style, we were struggling, we were close but they were constantly aware and after that we adapted better to their game,” confessed Pedersen afterwards.

However, both known for their never-give-up attitude, the pair bounced back, after losing the first game 13-21, to display some fantastic play against their opponent, despite their young partnership.  The two tall players, kept on leading the way and sealed the next two games 21-13, 21-19.

“We are getting better match by match.  Last week we lost in the first round to the strong pair but we were more trying to enjoy it.  Our level is coming up so we are excited about tomorrow’s match,” commented Christiansen.

Asked about their new pairing, Christinna Pedersen sees in it an opportunity to challenge herself on a daily basis: “For me it’s giving me some boost.  At the training I like to try to figure out this new partnership with Mathias so it’s all inspiring for me! Today we could have just said, ‘Okay it’s not our day,’ but we really wanted this, so we made everything possible to fight back and luckily for us we won today.”

The pair is now set to meet the world #1 Chen Qingchen and Zheng Siwei, who beat the up-and-coming British pair of Jessica Pugh and Ben Lane.

Tasty revenge

Indian superstar, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (pictured) avenged her loss last week in Denmark to 19-year-old Chen Yufei with a superb performance that left the Chinese rising star with few solutions to offer.  She might be earning thousands of dollar a day thanks to all her endorsements, but Sindhu still gives her very best on and off-court to remain at the very top.

The Indian woman corrected all the flaws of last week match that stopped her from advancing to the second round, thus elevating her game in order to come out victorious.

“Last week, I didn’t play my 100%.  There were too many mistakes but I think this time I was much more confident, and given the crowd support I could do much better today,” admitted Sindhu, after her straight -game victory 21-14, 21-14.

As for the semi-final, the Indian will have the recent Denmark Open Superseries Premier runner-up Akane Yamaguchi in her way.

“It feels great [to be in semi-final], I’m hoping for the best and keep the things going on.  I need to stay focussed a bit more because each match and each point are important so I need to keep calm and keep going,” concluded the Olympic silver medallist.

Polii/Rahayu against Japan

Since the Korea Open, Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu (pictured) have been mostly stopped or either greatly troubled by the new Japanese women’s doubles armada that has emerged on the circuit.  After being ousted last week by Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto, the newly formed Indonesian pair, followed Sindhu in executing a revenge project and changed their fate today in Paris against the Japanese pair who are now #6 in the world.

“I know we are on the same page with the Japanese, so we’ve been trying with my new partner to level up our game, and elevate our strategy.  Today we had last week match in mind and we said to ourselves, ‘Come on! Please! It cannot happen again!’” laughed the Indonesian ace, Greysia Polii, after she and Apriyani Rahayu sent their opponents packing after an hour and sixteen minutes.

The pair quickly headed back to their hotel to prepare for another tough match against the World Champions – and titleholders here in Paris – Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan (pictured bottom).  The Chinese duo, who a day earlier officially took over the world #1 spot – beat the recently reformed Korean pair Jung Kyung Eun and Chang Ye Na in three tough games.

Click here for complete quarter-final results