LONDON GPG 2013 QF – Denmark avoid more high profile casualties

An all-Danish men’s singles semi-final will be played between Vittinghus and Axelsen, as first seeds Boe/Mogensen and Pedersen/Rytter-Juhl progress easily. Damkjaer Kruse/Roepke also progressed as they beat home hopes Cooper/Gilmour.

By Michael Burke, Badzine Correspondent, live from London.  Photos: Raphael Sachetat for Badmintonphoto (live).

Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (pictured left) got the Danish team off to a good start with what was a comfortable victory in the end. He beat Indonesian player Riyanto Subagja 21-14 11-21 21-7, and spoke to the press after the match.

“I felt I played really well in the first he almost seemed like he didn’t quite have the fighting spirit. I lost my focus in the second and played a bit too easy in the second set, I let him control the game a bit too much and obvious he took that on to win the set.”

Vittinghus when asked about pressure with Jorgensen’s surprise exit, said, “Jan Ø going out hasn’t put much more pressure on me because I didn’t really have high expectations for this tournament as I have been studying a lot recently, so I’m just taking it match by match.”

On a potential all-Danish semi-final, “If I get to play Viktor in the next round I’ll obviously be focussed really hard on the game as it’s always more intense playing people from the same training academy.”

First seed women’s doubles pair Pedersen/ Rytter Juhl cruised through their game against Indonesian pair Andini/Gozali, 21-14 21-19 to progress to the semi-finals untroubled, where they will face Singapore’s Fu/Neo.

The Danish success continued as Boe/Mogensen played to seeding and cruised past Corvee/Leverdez of France. Only 25 minutes were required as they bypassed the French, who recovered a little in the second game, but still losing 21-9 21-17.

One of the highest quality matches of the day was that of Viktor Axelsen (pictured right) and Xue Song (pictured left). The Chinese player had beaten Axelsen in their only previous match, knocking him out of the World Junior Championships in 2012, and looked strong this past spring, reaching two Grand Prix finals.

Axelsen looked set to reverse his fortunes against Xue without too much trouble after taking the first game 21-16, but the second game was of a particularly high calibre as both players played fast and hard, with dives to retrieve shots and ducking to leave shuttles.

At 19-17 up, Axelsen and Xue played a series of tight net shots clipping cords to force the final end as close as possible, but from 19-all, with both players tiring, the Dane just held out to win 21-19.

“It turned out to be a really tough match, I played very well in most parts of the game, and controlled in most of the first and second game I think,” Axelsen said afterward, “but he upped his game and I fell a bit off the pace, and that made him very dangerous, but of course I’m really happy to win.

“It was another game today, with different players. Maybe he had a bit of jetlag. I’m playing at home in Europe, so maybe that was an advantage as well, but of course I’m really happy right now.

“I could do a bit better with fitness.  I got a bit tired in the second game because I was really focused on attacking and holding the net, so it was really tough, but it will come, and I think I played really well today.”

When asked about his semi final match against compatriot Vittinghus, Axelsen said, “We know each other well, so of course it will be a different match. We haven’t played each other in a while, so I’ll prepare for a really tough match. Hans-Kristian is really good runner, and a good fighter, so I’ll have to be 110% ready for a tough match tomorrow.”

The mixed pair of Damkjaer Kruse/Roepke (pictured right) managed to get the better of home favourites Cooper/Gilmour of Scotland.

The Danes lost a close first game 19-21, but managed to overpower the tiring Scottish pair. Damkjaer Kruse/Roepke were improving as they took the second 21-17 and the third 21-9.

The only black mark for the Danes came as the Indonesians pairing of Angriawan/Suwardi put out the Madses, Conrad-Petersen and Pieler Kolding. The match was a nail-biter to the end.  After the first game finished 21-19, the second did not disappoint as the Indonesians recovered from 20-21 down to win 23-21.

The full results for the day can be found here