ALL ENGLAND 2010 SF – 3 out of 4 ain’t bad!

Denmark sensationally succeeded in getting 3 of their four semi-finalists through to tomorrow’s All England finals and is guaranteed at least one gold medal as both men’s doubles pairings of […]

AE2010-Saturday-PaaskeRasmussen

Denmark sensationally succeeded in getting 3 of their four semi-finalists through to tomorrow’s finals and is guaranteed at least one gold medal as both men’s doubles pairings of Boe/Mogensen and Paaske/Rasmussen bridged a 43-year gap to fill an all-Danish men’s doubles final.

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

Semi-finals day did not start in the fashion that coach Kenneth Jonassen wished as his number one men’s singles charge fell to the might of Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. But fortunes soon changed as Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen delivered a professional 2-set win over the remaining Chinese threat Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen.

AE2010-Saturday-Rasmussen“This is what we train for and it’s days like these that make all the hard work worthwhile. I am a bit tired now after the match but tomorrow is a new day and the momentum and adrenalin will keep us going,” said Boe after their win.

What happened next was almost worthy of a Disney fairytale as the old men of Danish men’s doubles, Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen, turned the clock back and displayed a never-say-die attitude to come back from a set down to beat Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.

After losing the opening set the Danes came right back to take the second and Rasmussen (pictured top) fell to his knees as partner Paaske sent the Indonesians home with a net kill to take the match 23-21 in the decider.

Sandwiched between both men’s doubles victories was a decisive singles victory for 2008 champion Tine Rasmussen (pictured right). In a close match, but ultimately one that Rasmussen controlled, the world number 10 was in defiant form as she beat India’s starlet Saina Nehwal in two straight sets 21-19, 21-17.

All this took place under the watchful eye of head coach Kenneth Jonassen, who announced his departure from team Denmark this week to take up the new challenge as head singles  coach of Badminton England.

In a frank, open and honest interview with Badzine you can hear Jonassen’s thoughts on this year’s All England and his move to England here:

For all results click HERE

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About Mark Phelan