ALL ENGLAND 2011 Finals – Boe & Mogensen break double jinx

Denmark’s Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen captured their first ever title at the Yonex All England Badminton Championships after barely failing last year with a thrilling three-game match against Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, their nemeses on the circuit.

By Tarek Hafi (Live from Bimingham).  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

They failed once but didn’t miss it twice: Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen grabbed their first ever All England men’s doubles title after a tremendous match against Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong from Malaysia. However, things didn’t start well for the tall Danes as they first were dominated by the Malaysian pair, known to be probably the most deceptive on the circuit at the moment. Koo and Tan seemed to be enjoying themselves, with hundreds of Malaysians showing what making noise in a badminton stadium sounds like. The first game was sealed 21-15 but the two Danes, much quieter than ever,  took the lead in the second game,  finally finding out on how to deal with Koo and Tan, a pair they’d lost 7 out of the 8 times they’d played.

“We don’t like to play Koo and Tan.  They are both really skilful players.  It’s really hard to play against them,” admitted Mathias Boe during his post-match interview.

Keeping focussed and starting to serve long, Boe and Mogensen brought the match to a rubber game, which had the effect of increasing the volume inside the arena. The Malaysians once again showed pace and talent to lead 16-11, but the Danes were clearly not interested in bowing in the final again after last year where they had wasted a few Championship points. They caught up as the Malaysians were losing focus and making mistakes.  A fantastic comeback saw them clinch a first match point at 20-18, which they knew was precious from last year’s experience.  They rushed to conclude the game and the match. After this first victory, which was long sought, they were both stayed lying on the floor for several minutes. A dream had come true for the Danes.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable.  I really can’t describe the feeling now.  We were trailing back, but we still managed to win the game. I’m just really so pleased with the way we played.  Koo and Tan really played well, the first game was really hard but thankfully we were the winners in the end,” said Boe.

When asked if they were bothered by the crowd the Danes answered: “Not at all, I really like these kind of atmosphere.  We felt like in Asia.  It really should be like that everywhere!”

China claims two

The women’s doubles final was a one-sided affair as Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang didn’t give any chances to their Japanese opponents Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa, in the latter’s first final ever in a Super Series tournament. The Japanese never got into the game and took a lesson of badminton for a 21-2, 21-9 success from the Chinese pair, who now look to be the main favourites for the London Olympics.

Later on, Wang Xiaoli’s former partner, Ma Jin, was on top of the podium with her new partner Xu Chen, after they beat Thailand’s Prapakamol and Thungthongkam.

Final results
WS: Wang Shixian (China) beat Eriko Hirose (Japan): 24-22, 21-17
MD: Boe/Mogensen (Denmark) beat  Koo/Tan (Malaysia): 15-21, 21-18, 21-18
WD: Wang/Yu (China) beat  Fujii/Kakiiwa (Japan) : 21-2, 21-9
XD: Xu/Ma (China) beat  Prapakamol/Thungthongkam (Thailand): 21-13, 21-9
MS: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) beat  Lin Dan (China): 21-17, 21-17

For all  results CLICK HERE

TotalSports.tv is broadcasting all Super Series tournaments in 2011 and will be broadcasting the “ONE NIGHT WITH STARS” event from March 22nd  2011 with all profits going to SOLIBAD – Badminton without Borders.

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