So far the Japanese have seemed frighteningly strong in the ladies’ doubles category here at Denmark Open. And with three seeded pairs in today’s quarterfinal it is hard to see finals without Japanese participance. But today the top-seeded Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna were hard pressed as they faced Danish couple Lena Frier and Marie Røpke. The two Danes got through to today’s quarterfinal by beating a seeded German couple in yesterday’s second round and today the were almost able to match one of the best couples in the world. Røpke and Frier came off to a great start and were leading most of the first set. However, the Japanese caught up but the Danes managed to close the set 22-20. In the second and third set the Japanese picked up their game and made very few mistakes and the Danes were a bit behind. In the end the Japanese came out on top and won the last two sets 21-10 21-15 The Danes were, however, happy with their performance this evening. -We beat the German couple yesterday, which was our goal, and today we played a good match against the Japanese, so we are quite satisfied, Marie Røpke said. And Røpke and Frier know exactly what it will take to beat the Asian couples in the future. -We have to take todays experience with us to our training. We need to learn to be patient in our game and practice the long rallies. Lena Frier says. Japanese dominance continues When the semifinals are played tomorrow three of four couples in the ladies’ doubles will be Japanese. Not even third-seeded Petcha Nedelcheva and Anastasia Russkikh were able to defeat the Japanese ladies today. In straight sets the Russian/Bulgarian couple was covermatched by sixth-seeded Mami Naito and Shizuka Matsuo who won 21-18 21-13. Only one other pair got through and that is the Russian pair Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina. In their quarterfinals they beat Thai couple Kunchala and Duanganong. Tomorrow they face the Japanese Maeda and Suetsuna, who overpowered Lena Frier and Marie Røpke earlier this evening. |