What a day we’ve had here in Odense as our champions were found in some extremely intense, dramatic and amazing finals!

In the men’s singles final Kidambi Srikanth from India was on fire as he destroyed Lee Hyun Ill from Korea 21-10, 21-5. Pumping one smash down on the line after the other the Indian left his opponent no chance in a match where Srikanth was simply superior.

Throughout the week Lee has sent several of the favorites packing, including Chen Long and Son Wan Ho, but with his performance today Srikanth made sure that he wasn’t added to that list.

- My attack was working really well today so I ‘m very happy with the way it went. I didn’t make any kind of mistakes today and that was really fortunate for me. This is one of my best tournaments this year and I feel like it’s big winning here in Denmark, Srikanth says happily.

If you didn’t know any better than that today’s final in men’s doubles was played in Odense, you could very well have thought that it happened in either Indonesia or China. 

Especially the Indonesian fans were on the mark as Kevin Sukamuljo/Marcus Gideon entered the hall. They were up against the World Champions, Zhang Nan/Liu Cheng who also got a lot of Chinese support once the match got going.

Both Indonesian and Chinese fans were cheering for their idols as they were waving the flags of their countries and challenging each other with coordinated cheering screams going back and forth across the court.

The World Champions won the first game 21-16 and had several championship points in the second game, but Gideon/Sukamuljo ended up claiming the second game 24-22. The deciding game got thrilling and the fans got even louder. At the end, Zhang/Liu won 21-19 after a fantastic match.

- It is very exciting for us to win this title against this opponent because they are strong competitors so we are very excited about it. The audience was really encouraging us a lot and that helped us win the title says Zhang Nan and Liu Cheng.

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In women’s singles, we got an amazing and both intense and dramatic final between Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand. Yamaguchi won the first game 21-14 but then it seemed like Ratchanok really woke up and got on with it as she claimed the second game 21-15.

In the third game, the two contenders treated the crowd with amazing and long rallies leaving the spectators screaming of joy. Yamaguchi got the best start and looked like a champion to be as she took a 19-16 lead, but Ratchanok would it differently. 5 consecutive points for the Thai secured her the title and left her crying in happiness.

- Many people came to support me and I feel warmly welcome here. This match is important for Thai people and today I just did my best for my king. I don’t have to pressure myself because I think Yamaguchi also has a good game, I just had to do my best to not make mistakes, says Ratchanok moved to tears.

The mixed doubles final was a true thriller between Zheng Siwei/Chen Quingchen from China and Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet from Hong Kong China. The match fluctuated all the way through as the two pairs really brought out the best badminton in one another.

The first game went to Tang/Tse 24-22 but the Chinese came back strongly in the second game claiming it 21-19. The third game was as close at the first two but the Chinese did get a 20-16 lad at the end. Tang/Tse made an amazing comeback to 20-20. 

Down 20-21 they saved another championship point and moments after they had their first one themselves. As Siwei returned the serve in the net Tang fell down shaking her head in disbelieve that she and Tse were now the champions here in Odense.

- We are very excited. The win was unexpected because the opponents were very strong so we didn’t expect to win. We just kept trying and we felt that the audience encouraged us so we just kept fighting, says Tang.

The final in women’s doubles was a clash between Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan from Korea and Japanese Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto. 

The first game was very close until the interval where the Japanese had an 11-10 lead. From that point, Lee/Shin by means of great movement to the net stepped up their game and claimed the first game 21-13.

The Japanese got a better start in the second game but Lee/Shin were simply too strong. After a great performance and a 21-16 win in the third game, they were applauded by the crowd as the champions of DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR.

- We are very happy to win this big event and it is quite meaningful because it is our first ever. We got some confidence as a pair, Lee says.

That concludes the 2017 DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR where five champions got their well-deserved glory after treating the spectators with badminton when it’s best – and most dramatic!

We’re looking forward to seeing you again next year here in Odense as we once again meet the stars!