As Tine Baun left the tournament yesterday the home crowd needed a new one to cheer for. And the audience in Odense knew their target. Petya Nedelcheva represents Odense in the Danish Badminton League and the Bulgarian did not disappoint on home court.
She has had a tough tournament so far beating Pi Hongyan, seeded 3, and on Wednesday a long run against Kristina Ludikova. Furthermore she is still going strong in the ladies doubles.
Therefore the Bulgarian legs must be a bit tired after her win this Friday. She defeated the fifth seeded Yao Jie. It was third year in a row the two players met in the Denmark Open, and after today’s match Petya is up 2-1 in the Denmark Open statistics.
Petya got off to a fabulous start winning 21-7, but she lost her control of the game, and suddenly Yao Jie equalized. While most expected a long and close third game, Petya wanted it different. She got an excellent start and kept her lead until she celebrated her final 21-14-win. After kiss to the coach and waving to the applauding audience, she was tired – but indeed happy:
- I am happy to win today and I have played really well in this tournament. I did not expect to win so easy in the first set because Yao Jie always fights in the beginning, she says and adds:
- Actually in the third set she looked tired and I tried to push her in the beginning. I got advantage and tried to keep it and the win was very good for me.
She will now meet Wang Yihan who also had a long fight. She beat her fellow Chinese Li Xuerui 13-21, 21-16 and 21-7.
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