BITBURGER 2010 – Vittinghus targets career first major win

Denmark’s Hans Kristian Vittinghus will try to clinch his first major title when he takes on Chen Long from China in Sunday’s final of the Bitburger Open.  He beat Petr Koukal quite easily while Chen made light work of Carl Baxter.

By Raphaël Sachetat. Photos: Sven Heise (live from Saarbrucken)

Of the two Solibad logos, the one worn by the Danish player Vittinghus made it to the finals.  And the match between him and Petr Koukal from the Czech Republic did not last as long as expected – in 30 minutes, the Dane had taken his ticket for the final with a clean sweep, 21-14, 21-4.

“I don’t think he ever really found a way to control his nerves,” said a delighted Vittinghus, who is one victory away from a career high.  “It is by far my biggest achievement. I have beaten good players before, but it has mostly been one good match and then a loss.  It’s the first time I manage to put together a string of great matches at this level,” he said.

Vittinghus will play Chen Long in Sunday’s final as the top seed beat Carl Baxter in the other semi-final, 21-17, 21-9, staying on court 3 minutes more than his next opponent, from whom he’ll seek revenge.

“I played him in Macau Open last summer where I actually won in straight sets, so I hope for a repeat tomorrow,” said Vittinghus.

Another Xin, another Wang

A few days after the final of the Yonex World Championships in Paris, the final of this Grand Prix Gold event will see another Xin and another Wang meet in the final. This time, it will be Liu Xin and Wang Rong.  The latter – a former Chinese national player now representing Macau – was experienced enough to come back from a 17-20 trailing spot in the decider against Zhou Hui before winning 25-23.

Olga Konon was close to making it to the final as well, in front of her home crowd – she lives and trains in Saarbrucken – but the young Belarusian bowed to Xin Liu 21-23, 17-21.

Close call for Boe and Mogensen

The longest match of the day saw Denmark’s top seeds Boe and Mogensen (photo) barely stay on top of England’s Langridge and Ellis, having to go all the way to the decider after 1h13 minutes. The Danes won 20-22, 21-17, 21-19 and will take on Germany’s Kindervater and Schottler in the final.

Finals Line-up

MS: Chen Long (CHN) vs. Hans Kristian Vittinghus (DEN)
WS: Wang Rong (MAC) vs. Liu Xin (CHN)
MD: Boe/Mogensen (DEN) vs. Schottler/Kindervater (GER)
WD: Pan/Tian (CHN) vs. Jonathans/Vandooremalen (NED)
XD: Fuchs/Overzier (GER) vs. Zhang/Zhao (CHN)

All results HERE