DENMARK 2010 Day 1: In the catbird “seed”

Almost all of the seeded players lived up to their status and qualified for the next round at the Denmark Open. Nevertheless there were some surprises in the women’s singles as both Pi Hongyan (photo) and Eriko Hirose lost their first round match.  But local fans were most ‘upset’  about the men’s singles as top seed Peter Gade couldn’t participate due to an injury.

By Elm Vandevorst, Badzine Correspondent. Photos: Yohan Nonotte/Antoine Roullet for Badmintonphoto (live)

A great setback for the local favourite Peter Gade who normally was up for a first rounder against Wing Ki Wong.  Gade still suffers from a back injury he got last week and although he’s feeling better, won’t take a risk.  Wong can now look forward towards a second round match against Przemyslaw Wacha. The Pole overcame another Dane, Christian Thomsen, in two sets 21-13 23-21. Some better news for the Scandinavian men as the talented Viktor Axelsen (photo), Joachim Persson and fourth seeded  Jan O Jorgensen are all trough to the next round.

The tournament has already ended for another seeded player: Pi Hongyan.  The former Chinese lost against Petya Nedelcheva 21-18, 21-13. The Bulgarian controlled in the rallies and relied on her smashes to make the difference. By winning, Nedelcheva took revenge for her compatriot Linda Zechiri who lost against Hongyan at the Denmark Open last year. But also her compatriot Linda Zetchiri (photo) herself was able to get past the first hurdle, triumphing after an intense three setter against Michelle Chan 21-19 20-22 21-19.

Furthermore fourth seeded Eriko Hirose can already travel back to Japan. In an Asian duel Liu Xin was just too strong, resulting in an obvious 21-12, 21-11 victory. Xin has already played two matches in the qualifications and will now meet her compatriot Zhu Lin, a qualifier as well.

No bolts from the blue in the mixed doubles, as all the top pairs passed their first test. Defending champions Joachim Fischer/Christinna Pedersen had a difficult start against fellow Europeans Zvonimir Durkinjak/Stasa Poznanovic, erasing a game point at 21-20, but prevailed 23-21 21-19 in the end. More problems for the first seeds Robert Mateusiak/Nadiezda Zieba as they were just blown away by the Indonesian/Russian combo Hendra Setiawan/Anastasia Russkikh in the first game with 21-9. The Poles found an answer and countered their opponents with 21-11 21-17 in the second and third set.

Setiawan can now focus on the men’s doubles together with Markis Kido.  A semi-final just as last year should be within their reach, where they could be up against compatriots Alvent Chandra and Hendra Gunawan. Both couples had an easy afternoon, claiming victory within half an hour. Setiawan/Kido defeated Japanese Naoki Kawamae/Shoji Sato 21-17 21-19. Fellow citizens Chandra and Gunawan required exactly 27 minutes against Polish pair Adam Cwalina/Michal Logosz 21-16 21-18.

Albeit a massive total of thirteen Danish twosomes entered the draw in the women’s doubles,  merely three of them could move forward to round two. Still some great matches lie ahead with Indonesia Open semi-finalist Miyuki Maeda/Satoko Suetsuna meeting Indonesia Grand Prix semi-finalists Vita Marissa/Nadya Melati. Additionally also the All-Japanese second round between second seeds Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa and youngsters Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi has everything in the making to become a thrilling duel. They came across each other in the final of the Osaka International challenge, with the more experienced pair claiming the title after a 21-19 21-16 triumph.

All results HERE

Live Streaming HERE (free until Friday included) with English commentary