With the play going from 9 AM to 10.30 PM the first day of DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR was a long one and it treated us very well with some great matches.

First up today was the qualification in all five categories followed by the first round of mixed doubles in the main draw. Here we got to see some of the biggest stars in the world live in action as they made their first appearance in the 2017 DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR. 

One of the pairs we got to see today was Indonesian Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir who recently won the World Championships in Glasgow. Today they were facing Anton Kaisti/Jenny Nystrom from Finland who they defeated 21-14, 21-16 after a convincing performance. Afterwards, the Indonesian were happy to get started here in Odense.

- It was nice to get started and get a sense of how the conditions are in the main hall, especially regarding the wind, and to get a feeling of how the shuttles are reacting in here, says Natsir.

Click here to see all of the today’s results from DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR!

We had some kind of a surprise as “The Adcock” were sent packing by Olympic Champion in women’s doubles Misaki Matsutomo and her mixed doubles partner Yugo Kobayashi. In spite of heavy cheering from the crowd supporting Chris and Gabrielle Adcock the English pair lost 17-21, 24-26 after having had several game points in the second game.

The home crowd’s highest hope for a Danish triumph in mixed doubles is Christinna Pedersen/Mathias Christiansen. Or at least, it was, because the Danish pair lost their match in the first round today.

The Danes were up against a couple where especially the male player has won a lot of big titles including The Olympics: Zhang Nan/Li Yinhui from China.

You might also like: Zhang Nan/Li Yinhui fight their way to the second round

After a close run, the Chines pair secured the first game 21-19 and even though Christiansen/Pedersen had the full support from the crowd the Chinese were simply too good to allow a Danish comeback. The second game ended 21-14 in favor of Zhang Nan/ Li Yinhui sending them through to the second round. 

The Chinese were happy about their victory as they had a lot of respect for the Danes beforehand. Therefore, they were ready for whatever they Danes were bringing to the court today explains Zhang Nan.

- Sometimes we lose and sometimes they lose. Christinna and Mathias is a very good pair, so we were ready for anything today, he says.

With all of the today’s matches completed we are now more than ready for the first round in the remaining four categories tomorrow. The hight of tomorrow could very well be the match between Olympic Champion Carolina Marin and the Indian superstar Saina Nehwal.

Click here if you want to live stream the action from Odense on Zibrasport.