It was a close call, but in the end Mads Pieler Kolding and Mads Conrad-Petersen managed to beat Vladimir Ivanov and Markis Kido in the last match of today.
Due to a last minute withdrawal from Russian Ivan Sozonov, his partner Vladimir Ivanov had been partnered with former world champion Markis Kido in the men's doubles category.
An odd constellation, but none the less a constellation that should prove to bring trouble for the Danish duo consisting of Mads Pieler Kolding and Mads Conrad-Petersen in the last match of the day.
Keeping the lead
In the beginning of the first game Ivanov and Kido got a six point streak that took them from three to nine points and thereby gave them a five point lead.
The Russian-Indonesian constellation actually kept that lead throughout the rest of the game and surprisingly enough managed to win it by 21-19.
Danes stepped up
It was two completely different Danes who entered the second game however. They quickly got ahead with a few points, and afterwards just kept on going. And all of a sudden they had secured themselves no less than 12 game points.
Ivanov and Kido managed to steal a few more points, but they were unable to prevent the Danes from sending the match into three games.
Close call
The deciding game was an intense and close affair pretty much all the way. The Danes lead by 11-8 at the interval but couldn't just seem to create a crushing gap like they did in the second game.
Ivanov and Kido were just behind and actually seemed to enjoy the company of each other on the court. The combined well and played rather freely due to the fact that this tournament is the first and last they will ever play together.
Towards the end of the third game, Ivanov and Kido grasped the lead at a crucial time, at 16-15. And from that point, the two pairs would be neck to neck for the remainder of the game.
In the end it was Kolding and Conrad who won it. After a nerve wrecking finish the two Danes won by 25-23 after having been down with a match point.
Reactions
After the match we caught a relieved Mads Kolding with a big smile on his face.
- The match was very uneven and not very rhythmic either. It's been a while since I've faced Ivanov, but Kido we played recently. And we know he can play like day and night, which was exactly how he played today.
- But it was a fun match, very entertaining also I guess. Fun for me at least, probably because I won in the end.
Tomorrow Mads Kolding and Mads Conrad will face compatriots Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen. About that final, Mads Kolding says:
- Tomorrow's match can be quite messy as well actually. We know each other so well, and the game can easily get very tactical. We'll have to try and cope with that if we are to have a chance of winning.