Danish Mads Pieler Kolding and Kamilla Rytter Juhl faced Thai Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam in the first match of this year's Yonex Copenhagen Masters. After three entertaining games, the Danes ended up winning and thereby reaching tomorrow's final.
Once again this year, badminton fans all over the world can experience some world class badminton entertainment during the holidays, as the traditional Yonex Copenhagen Masters tournament is being played.
Several top players have found their way to the Danish capital city this year to participate, including three time mixed doubles champions, Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen, as well as the experienced Korean Olympic semi finalist, Lee Hyun Il.
As the tradition prescribes, there is only being played on one court. The tall Danish mixed doubles pair consisting of Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Mads Pieler Kolding were the first two players to enter the court. The other two were Thai duo Saralee Thoungthongkam and Sudket Prapakamol.
Thais off to best start
The match started well, seing both pairs reach a high level of play from the beginning of the match. The Thais were in the lead with a narrow gap all the time however, both at 5-2 and 11-10.
After the interval, the match proceeded like it had begun. The two pairs remained neck to neck throughout the entire first game, and in the end it was the Thai duo who won the crucial game winning points. 21-19 the won the first game by.
- We were good at the net in the first game, when it was lady against lady. We also had good speed and good movement. But we lost it in the second game, Sudket Prapakamol tells us after the match.
Danes came back
Along with the commencement of the second game came also the end of the Thai dominance. The Danes changed their pace and outplayed Sudket and Saralee and the second and third game also.
The Thai pair, ranked as no. 8 in the world, ended up being beaten by the two tall Danes by 19-21 / 21-14 / 21-12.
About how they managed to change the course of the match, Mads Pieler Kolding said:
- Our first was actually okay, we just didn't get enough out of our game. So I'm glad we managed to find a way in the second and third game, and realized that we had to use the entire court in order to win.
- Because if you don't do that, and instead let Sudket play the way he can, he is good. So we had to be careful not to play along like him, but instead make him and Saralee work for their points, the tall Dane explains.
In tomorrow's final, Kolding and Juhl will face either Indonesian Markis Kido and Pia Bernadeth or local heroes Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen.