Kirsty Gilmour won her first title in nearly two years as she followed up on her semifinal upset of Carolina Marin to clinch the SaarLorLux Open 2020 beating Yvonne Li on Sunday.
Men’s singles threw up a surprise winner as well, with Frenchman Toma Junior Popov capturing the biggest title of his career with a hard-fought victory over Dutchman Mark Caljouw.
Toma Junior Popov
The story of the tournament however was Gilmour’s straight-games shock of top seed Carolina Marin – only her second victory over the Spaniard in nine matches, and her first since 2014.
Gilmour then faced Germany’s Yvonne Li, and despite a tricky second game, sped ahead from 17-all in the second to clinch her first title since the Scottish Open 2018 – also a World Tour Super 100 event – nearly two years ago, 21-10 21-17.
Toma Junior Popov pressed ahead after beating fifth seed Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus in the second round; he eased past compatriot Thomas Rouxel, and then prevailed in a close quarterfinal battle against Germany’s Max Weisskirchen, who had earlier upset top seed Rasmus Gemke.
Popov made his way past Dane Ditlev Jaeger Holm before earning a tight win over Caljouw in the final, 22-20 19-21 21-14.
Other Results
Jeppe Bay (left) and Lasse Moelhede.
- Denmark stole the show in men’s doubles, with two young pairs, Jeppe Bay/Lasse MØlhede and Daniel Lundgaard/Mathias Thyrri, making the final. Bay and Moelhede got the better of their compatriots 21-13 21-15.
Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje.
- Denmark also won the mixed doubles, with fourth seeds Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra BØje avenging their recent loss to Denmark Open champions Mark Lamsfuss/Isabel Herttrich 21-15 19-21 21-11 in the longest match of the day.
The Stoeva sisters – Gabriela (front) and Stefani – had it easy in the final.
- Women’s doubles top seeds Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva justified their top seeding with a comfortable 21-8 21-11 result over young Danish duo Amalie Magelund/Freja Ravn. The Danes had earlier upset senior compatriots and second seeds Sara Thygesen/Maiken Fruergaard in the semifinals in straight games.
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