Odense Sports Park was more packed than ever this week. Even though Jan Ø. Jørgensen was playing in his home country his was on foreign land. His opponent Viktor Axelsen was pushed forward by the noisy crowd who hoped the best for their 16-year-old idol.
But hope is not enough. Jan Ø. Jørgensen showed the class and denied Axelsen’s threat. After a close start of the match Jan Ø. Jørgensen went from 13-13 to a victory on 21-14. The game lead gave Jan Ø. confidence and Axelsen became frustrated. Axelsen is used to have luck playing offensive but today’s match was not business as usual. He missed some easy points, and Jan Ø. Jørgensen took advantage.
In the end Jan Ø. Jørgensen could cheer – and he did. Both for himself but also pointed at Viktor to applaud him. Afterwards Jan Ø. Jørgensen was happy to have beaten his younger opponent. He agreed he kind of wanted to make a statement and prove there is still one level between the players.
Persson played his chance
Unfortunate for the Danes Jan Ø. Jørgensen will be the only Danish single player to play quarter finals tomorrow. Joachim Persson had a tough draw and had to challenge the title favorite Taufik Hidayat. The Indonesian star controlled the first one and a half game, but Joachim Persson never gave up his fight and suddenly he was ahead 19-18. Despite the fact that Persson played his best, Taufik stole three points in a row and sent Persson home with a sorry defeat.
- I was expecting a good match. I have never played a bad match. But I believed in my chances. He played well today, it was close I could have stolen the second set, says Joachim Persson.
And about the end of the match, he was aware of his missed opportunity:I got a bit tense at 18-19 and I can’t afford to do that against a player like him, he ended.
Taufik Hidayat will now Japanese star Kenichi Tago, while one of the other international favorites, Boonsak Ponsana from Thailand, surprisingly lost against Kashyap Parupalli.
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