Denmark enjoyed a successful in Men’s Doubles at the OUE Singapore Open today.
After Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding had easily overcome Hong Kong pair Chan Yun Lung/Lee Chun Hei 21-17 21-13, younger compatriots Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen prevailed in a thriller over No.8 seeds Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov of Russia.
The match could not have been any closer. The Russians had a 19-15 lead in the first game, but the Danes whittled it down and soon had match point. The lead changed hands until Ivanov/Sozonov clinched the issue at 25-23.
Astrup/Rasmussen equalled the deficit and took the match to a decider. The Russians had two match points at 20-18 but once again the Danes staged a comeback and reeled off four points in a row to complete a memorable win: 23-25 21-15 22-20.
There were no surprises in the other matches. Top seeds Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong (Korea), second seeds Lee Sheng Mu/Tsai Chia Hsin (Chinese Taipei) and third seeds Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa (Japan) progressed without much trouble.
In an all-European contest, Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge edged past Germany’s Raphael Beck/Andreas Heinz 15-21 21-19 21-17.
India’s Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (featured image) caused some ripples in Women’s Doubles beating Korea’s Goh Ah Ra/Yoo Hae Won 21-12 21-16. They however have a formidable contest ahead, in the form of China’s Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli.
Other Chinese pairs to progress included Xia Huan/Tian Qing, Huang Yaqiong/Ma Jin and Ou Dongni/Yu Xiaohan. Malaysia Open runners-up Jung Kyung Eun/Chang Ye Na (Korea) take on Huang Yaqiong/Ma Jin in the next round.
There will be an all-Dutch second round with Samantha Barning/Iris Tabeling and Eefje Muskens/Selena Piek making the second round. Barning/Tabeling needed three games to get
past Indonesia’s Dian Fitriani/Nadya Melati, while Piek/Muskens powered past Thailand’s Chaladchalam Chayanit/Phataimas Muenwong 21-16 21-15.
Men’s SIngles too followed the form book. Korea’s Son Wan Ho, struggling to find form since his Hong Kong Open victory last year, needed three games to get past India’s RMV Gurusaidutt.
Former top-five player Kenichi Tago’s (Japan) fortunes continued to plummet with a first-round loss, to Hong Kong’s Hu Yun. England’s Rajiv Ouseph was expected to trouble Viktor Axelsen but the Dane shut him out in quick time, 21-17 21-15.
French Open champion Chou Tien Chen (Chinese Taipei) had to overcome a first-game loss to Ireland’s Scott Evans. A difficult second round opponent, in the form of Japan’s Kento Momota, awaits him next.
Local Women’s Singles hope Chen Jiayuan survived a stiff battle against USA’s Iris Wang, 22-20 18-21 21-15, and will take on Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying, who had it rather easy over Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk. USA’s Beiwen Zhang cruised past Hong Kong’s Yip Pui Yin and booked a match against China’s Wang Yihan. With two Japan versus Korea matches in the second round (Akane Yamaguchi against Bae Yeon Ju and Nozomi Okuhara against Sung Ji Hyun), tomorrow promises even more exciting action.
For the day’s results, click here.
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