The crowd in Odense was in for a loud and well-played drama as Marin and Nehwal collided in the first round.

To a badminton fan, a match between Carolina Marin and Saina Nehwal doesn’t sound like a first-round match. Nonetheless, that was the case today here in Odense as The Olympic Champion Marin from Spain took on former World Champion Indian Saina Nehwal.

- I think it was a very tough match to play in the first round. I didn’t really look at my draw after the first round because Carolina is a very tough player to play against, says Nehwal.

Before today the two superstars had fought eight duels with their racquets making the score between them 4-4. The last time they met was at the Japan Open where Marin took a pretty comfortable win 21-16, 21-13.

Thereby, the scene was set for a true drama and a possible Indian revenge today here in Odense at the 2017 DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR - and a drama was exactly what the crowd got!

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The first game was close all the way from the beginning until the end. The one magnificent shot outdid the other and the two players really gave their all, both physically and especially verbally as winning shots were celebrated with loud screams of satisfaction echoing through Odense Idrætshal.

After around 25 thrilling and intense minutes Nehwal took advantage of her second game point and won the first game 22-20.

Marin came out very strongly in the beginning of the second game playing at a tremendous pace. It took Nehwal a few points getting used to it but then she surely showed that she was able to keep up with the Spaniard. From being down 2-4 and 3-5 Nehwal managed to secure an 11-8 lead.

After the interval, Nehwal continued to play at an extremely high level and extended her lead to 19-14. Despite Marin winning two consecutive points to 17-19 Nehwal managed to close the match with a 21-18 win in the second game leaving the Indian screaming her lounges out in pure happiness.

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After the match, Nehwal was very happy about winning and especially about the fact that she had been able to move well on court today. In spite of today’s win, she’s very cautious about her further journey in DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR.

- Today was something that I didn’t expect so I’m very happy to have won. I’m happy that I could move well today and that I could play some difficult shots and make her run. Overall, I’m happy that I won today but I still have a long way to go. It’s a huge tournament so let’s see how it goes, says Nehwal.

The win secures Nehwal a spot in the second round of DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR, gave her revenge for the latest defeat against Marin and got her the internal lead between the two true champions. 

We’re looking forward to seeing Nehwal back on court here in Odense when she faces the winner of the match between Nitchaon Jindapol and Evgeniya Kosetskaya.