GERMAN OPEN 2012 QF – Jan, Juliane fly European flag

Jan O Jorgensen and Juliane Schenk are the only Europeans left of the singles event in Mulheim in the Yonex German Open. Lee Yong Dae is going for a double crown.

By Sven Heise (text and photos), Badzine Correspondent live from Mulheim

With strong performances on Friday, both Jan O Jorgensen and Juliane Schenk (photo) proved their ambitions for the title in Mülheim.

“I wanted to win every single point of this match,” said Juliane Schenk after a three-game win against Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand (21-17, 16-21, 21-10).

“I played very well, unfortunately with a little weakness in the second set. With all the long rallies, Intanon was getting more and more tired. I like the tough matches because it’s more interesting for the spectators, showing emotions, fighting spirit on both sides.”

On Saturday, Juliane will surely have another tough match. The German is playing against Wang Xin of China. Wang had to fight even longer than Juliane as she defeated Sung Ji Hyun of Korea in 64 minutes 19-21, 21-18, 21-18.

One Dane down, one up

Jan O Jorgensen won against Wong Wing Ki 21-17, 21-11 and shows he is the Dane in form of the moment. Gade’s young compatriot almost assured his spot for the Olympics, well within the top 16 with extra points coming his way after this week in Germany, where he has a semi-final spot – at least.

His compatriot Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (photo) had a nearly unsolvable task facing four-time World Champion Lin Dan. But it was not going to be a walk in the park for the Chinese. 2400 fans celebrated spectacular long rallies in one of the best matches in the tournament. Lin Dan complained about two decisions of the line judges (photo) and Vittinghus even had a game point after saving four match points at 16-20. Lin Dan won 21-19, 23-21.

“Argh… 21-19 23-21 for Lin Dan, so damn close! Really really proud of my performance today, I played so well and fought with everything I had,” said the gentle player on his Facebook page.

“The sellout crowd also got behind from the very beginning of the match and to feel their support was fantastic. I hope they enjoyed the match just as much as I did. Was lots of fun, but I would really have loved to play a third game today! He was a little better in the end though and deserved the win. But it’s very positive to see that I’m getting closer and closer to the best players. I just need to keep working hard. My time to shine will come :-)”

His opponent of Saturday is Tommy Sugiarto, who beat Ville Lang, while Jorgensen takes on another Indonesian – Simon Santoso.

Lee  Yong Dae out for double crown

Korea’s jewel Lee Yong Dae will get two chances to bring back gold from Mulheim. First, for the first match of Saturday’s session in the mixed doubles with Ha Jung Eun against Sato and Matsuo and then, for the last match of the session, in the men’s doubles with Jung Jae Sung against Endo and Hayakawa, also from Japan.

All results HERE