The excitement for the VICTOR Denmark Open has reached a boiling point heading into Friday, with Europe strongly represented in four out of five categories in this Super 750 tournament.
Let’s take a look at how day three unfolded.
Blichfeldt and Popov headline early triumphs
We’ve already covered Mia Blichfeldt’s stunning victory against Chen Yu Fei and Christo Popov’s remarkable win over Rasmus Gemke in earlier articles today click the links to read the full breakdown.
Christiansen/Bøje’s comeback thriller
After the remarkable European results earlier in the day, it was time for Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Bøje to once again take centre court in Odense.
The pair, who were not originally expected to play the tournament and entered on a reserve ticket, have made a remarkable and inspirational return to badminton after their layoff.
Today they faced the seventh-seeded Hong Kong pair Tse/Tang. At the end of the first game, the Hong Kong duo had three game points at 20-17, but the Danes, fuelled by the home crowd, fought back and stole the game 24-22. The whole arena erupted, and the Danes used that energy to their advantage — point by point — looking sharper and more energetic in the rallies.
The second game was more comfortable, with Christiansen/Bøje sealing the win 21-16.
Lane/Vendy extend their winning run
Even more comfortable was the impressive performance from Ben Lane/Sean Vendy, who continued their winning streak after their Arctic Open triumph.
They cruised past the Chinese Taipei pair Liu/Yang 21-10 21-14 in their first-ever encounter, setting up a quarterfinal clash against Indonesia’s Fikri/Alfian tomorrow.
Tough battles in women’s doubles
Women’s doubles is the only category where Europe will not be represented in the next round, despite strong efforts from the Stoeva sisters. They pushed the fourth-seeded Japanese pair Iwanaga/Nakanishi to three games in a tightly contested match that ended 21-12 15-21 21-15 to the Japanese.
Julie Macpherson/Ciara Torrance also competed today but fell to the top-seeded Chinese pair Liu/Tan.
Axelsen grinds through
Men’s singles is where Europe is best represented, with Viktor Axelsen also in action today. Despite a sluggish performance, which Axelsen humorously described as “moving like an elephant,” he fought through and secured the win.
“I have no idea how I won that match. I felt slow — Tanaka was blitzing me, he was faster than me. When I came to the slower side of the court, I played with better control, he made mistakes, my attack started showing signs of improvement. I’m just relieved; this is a big, big result for me.”
Watch the full interview here:
Alex Lanier also managed to pull off an epic victory against Weng Hong Yang, who had defeated him at the World Championships. This win sets him up for a thrilling quarterfinal clash against Lakshya Sen, who played outstandingly today, beating defending champion Anders Antonsen comfortably in two games 21-13 21-14.
Looking ahead
With a diverse range of European athletes still in contention across several divisions, tomorrow promises to be another exciting and special evening of badminton.
For more updates, follow our coverage on badmintoneurope.com and across our social channels.
