Sunday 23 October 2011

Fischer And Pedersen Ensure Danish Joy

The home fans had something to cheer at the Yonex Denmark Open as Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen claimed mixed doubles gold in Odense.

The pair claimed their third Danish Open title thanks to a 22-20 21-16 win over Chinese fifth seeds Xu Chen and Ma Jin. The first game saw a number of intense rallies, neither side able to break into a lead of more than two points, as they battled for control in the topsy-turvy opener, the lead exchanging seven times before the Danes took it on their second game point.

Nothing changed at the beginning of the game two, until, that was, the scores reached eight apiece, the Chinese taking three straight points to open up an 11-8 lead at the mid-game interval. It didn't last long, as the scores were soon levelled after the break before the home stars, ranked fourth in the world, secured five consecutive points, the longest streak of the match. That was a mark from which the Danish partnership never looked back as they maintained their lead right the way through, claiming the championship with their first match point after Ma Jin hit long of the backline.

Lee Chong Wei put in an abject performance in the men's singles final, falling to China's Chen Long for the second time in as many matches.

Chen's 21-15 21-18 victory means that he has now won the last three Super Series tournaments, following his victories at the China Masters and Japan Open, taking his career total to four top tier titles.

Chong Wei's erroneous first game gave his Chinese opponent an easy ride, the top seed scoring just eight winners throughout the opener. That is not to discredit Chen, however, who worked hard from back to front, the six point margin a fair reflection of each players efforts.

The scoring tightened up during the second game, the lead moving from one player to another before Chen finally made his lead stick at 16-15, closing out the match to secure a record equalling third consecutive Super Series win, Chong Wei himself and Sony Dwi Kuncoro the only other players to achieve that feat.

Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae clinched the men's doubles crown after a physically demanding win over Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China, their second consecutive win over the top ranked pair. For a match between two partnerships of such calibre there were a lot of expectations from fans, and the match lived up to the hype, finishing 21-16 21-17 in favour of the Koreans.

The first game started at a frantic pace, both sides ruthless in their exposition of attacking badminton and only playing clears when absolutely necessary. Quite typically it was the Koreans who coped better with the flat exchanges and an error on service from Cai gave them the advantage at the end of the first game.

What turned out to be the winning game picked up where the first had left off, the physicality refusing to be taken down a notch, though as with the first game it was Jung and Lee who held off the relentless attack the best, too many errors slipping into the Chinese play as the match drew to a close.

Though the final score, coupled with the fact that the final was finished after just 42 minutes, could lead you to believe this was a straightforward win for the world number twos. It was anything but; neither pair may ever get such a workout from a two game match.

Wang Xin claimed her second Super Series crown of the year, fending off the challenge of Wang Yihan 21-14 23-21 in an all-Chinese affair.

World champion Yihan was never able to settle into a rhythm and committed far too many errors, 25 throughout the match. The contest was cagey throughout, the teammates experts in one another's styles and tactics through training; Wang Xin restricting her nemesis to just one net winner in the first game, and no smash winners whatsoever.

The second was more open, though the quality of the badminton was still fairly low. It was, in fact, Wang Yihan who comfortably hit more winners, 18 in total, but the 23 year old was unable to land enough of her shots within Wang Xin's court, missing out on two game points at the death.

The women's doubles tournament churned out a rematch of this years World Championship final in it's own setpiece. The result ended up the same. Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang took home the $31,600 prize money, leaving Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei with the silver medals, winning 22-20 21-16.

Game one could have gone either way as the Chinese rivals battled valiantly for the lead, Tian and Zhao wasting the first game before handing the lead to their opponents in a hard fought opener. The second game took a very different path, Tian and Zhao taking the first point before letting seven in a row slip away. They never so much as drew level, that despite winning seven straight points of their own, as Wang and Yu ended the match at the first attempt.

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