For the second week in a row, Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje had to settle for second place. This week, however, they once again proved that they belong at the very top of world badminton. That was also reflected in the rankings, as they reclaimed a spot in the top 10 this week following their comeback this summer.

In today’s final, the Danes faced the reigning world champions, Chen/Toh from Malaysia.
Christiansen and Bøje got off to a fantastic start, controlling the play and dictating the tempo of the match. The Danes took the first game convincingly, 21–15.

The second game was much closer, with the two pairs going into the interval tied, the Danes holding a narrow 11–10 lead. After the break, Chen in particular showed why the Malaysian pair are world champions. He took control of the match and, from the backcourt, managed to break through the Danish defense, something that had been close to impossible for opponents to do over the past two weeks. The Malaysians claimed the second game 21–17.

The third game never really became close. The world champions maintained their momentum and secured their first title of the year with a 21–11 win in the deciding game.

After the match, Alexandra Bøje pointed to the serve situation as a decisive factor:
“We couldn’t really handle his serve, we didn’t return well enough. I think that was the key thing in the match.”

Despite missing out on the tournament victory, it was still a positive Danish pair leaving the tournament with their heads held high. Mathias Christiansen summed it up after the match:
“I think we have had two of the best weeks of our careers so far.”

There is no doubt that Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje will be an exciting pair to follow in the period ahead.