LONDON GPG 2013 SF – Indonesia and China through to men’s finals

Damkjær Kruse/Roepke finished off a great day for the Danish at the Adidas London Grand Prix Gold as they confirmed a full set through, whilst Tian Houwei of China remained in the competition, joined by Angriawan / Suwardi of Indonesia as the last players representing their respective nations.

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

The first match of the evening session saw the Danes completed the set, progressing at every opportunity. Line Damkjær Kruse / Marie Roepke (pictured left) faced the winners of last night’s marathon match, the Singaporeans Shinta Mulia Sari / Yao Lei, who were obviously suffering from that match in the first game, as they went down quickly 11-21.

In much-improved form in the second game, the Singaporeans scraped through 22-20 to force the decider, but throughout the game they were too happy to give away the attack, which was punished by the hard-hitting Danes, who took the third 21-16.

Speaking afterwards, Roepke said, “I spoke to my coach before and said only we can ruin the day now. We got a little bit comfortable in the second set.  They played a lot better, stepped forward and took the points.”

About their all-Danish final, “We’re playing the match we want to be playing, it’s always a bit weird when the same nations play each other, but we will take it as it comes.”

Tian Houwei (pictured right) of China was the first player to upset home hopes as he ended Rajiv Ouseph’s run at the Adidas London GPG. Ouseph held the slimmest of margins in the first set at the mid-game, but was surpassed by the Chinese player, and despite a late recovery, the Englishman lost the first game 18-21.

Ouseph looked shaken by the nature of his first game, and whilst he showed flashes of quality, the 2013 Australian Open champion took the second game 21-14 to end the match.

Tian spoke after the match, to say, “I’m very pleased with my performance, I tried my best and it’s as hard as I’ve ever played.”

He will face Vittinghus of Denmark tomorrow and spoke highly of his opponent, “I will try my best, but he is very highly ranked.”

Tian has been putting in more and more performances and is fast emerging as a top player in a young Chinese squad, “The coach trusts me.  It’s why he sends me to competitions. I try my best to contribute to the Chinese team, and to bring back achievements for China.”

The second men’s doubles semi-final saw Indonesian pair Angriawan / Suwardi (pictured left) take on Germans Kaesbauer / Zurwonne. The fast, flat and hard-paced game kept the crowd entertained with frantic retrievals from both pairs.

After the Germans edged a close first game 19-21, the Indonesians looked the stronger pair and took the next two games in double quick time, 21-13 21-11.

The full results for the day can be found here