ALL ENGLAND 2010 QF – Tine Back From the Brink

Tine Rasmussen called on all her All England experience today as she fought back from the precipice of defeat to see off the challenge of China’s Lu Lan in a repeat of the All England final 2008 final.

By Mark Phelan (Live in Birmingham)  Photos: BadmintonPhoto.com (Live)

The 2008 All England champion was staring defeat in the face after losing the opening set 21-16 and fell two match points behind to the graceful Chinese athlete at 20-18 before clawing her way back to take the second set 23-21.

The second set victory for Rasmussen (pictured) proved to be the catalyst she needed to stretch the current world champion from China as she stormed out of the blocks in the third to lead from start to finish. Lu Lan had no answers for the confident Dane at this point and with every point won came the customary clenched fist salute from Rasmussen.

Match point was a formality for Rasmussen but the relief was evident as she screamed with delight upon securing the win after her remarkable comeback to the delight of the hundreds of Danish fans gathered in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

In a good early evening’s work for Denmark Jonas Rasmussen and Lars Paaske (pictured top) continued to roll back the years as they beat new Malaysian kids on the block Gan Teik Chai and Tan Bin Shen. The Danes led from the start in the opening set before closing it out 21-18. The match looked to be heading to a deciding rubber as the Malaysians eked out a 19-15 lead in the second. By the Danes, backed by the vocal support of the large Birmingham crowd, fought back to level at 19-19 before eventually closing out the victory with a 22-20 win in the second set.

“We changed our tactics a little today and concentrated on attacking the right handed Tan and it worked. We have come back now to prove we are amongst the best 8 pairs in the world as this is the best tournament in the world and we look forward instead of looking back,” said Jonas Rasmussen after their quarter-final victory.

For all results click HERE

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