BITBURGER OPEN 09 SF - Mie to shoot for Doubles Double

Saturday, 03 October 2009 19:50

Mie Schjoett Kristensen was the belle of the semi-final Bitburger ball today as she booked a double doubles final spot with her partner Line Kruz and Mikkel Delbo Larsen respectfully.

By Mark Phelan. Photos: Sven Heise / Badmintonphoto (live from Saarbrucken)

Schjoett Kristensen will be the busiest player on finals day at the Bitburger Open as she opened and closed semi-finals day with wins in both the women’s and mixed doubles. The Dane opened proceedings today with a hard-earned 3-set win over English duo Marianna Agathangelou and Robin Middleton. Schjoett Kristensen, along with partner Mikkel Delbo Larsen (pictured left), lost the opening set 18-21 but bounced back to advance to the finals with a 21-15 win in the deciding rubber.

"I’m very happy right now! We had a really bad start in the mixed. The English pair were putting a lot of pressure on the serve/returns and we standing way to still. But we came back really strong and in the third we really controlled every part of the game," said Kristensen after her mixed success.

In the final match of the day, Schjoett Kristensen teamed up with her new women’s doubles partner Line Kruze to literally cruise into tomorrow's final with an easier 21-14, 21-12 win over Japanese pair Hirayama and Kurihara. The Danish third seeds will square off against Denmark's premier women’s doubles pair in tomorrow's final as Helle Nielsen and Marie Roepke were pushed harder than expected in today's semi-final but still finally prevailed over German pair Overzier and Marinello in 2 sets.

"In the doubles, we focused on ourselves as we knew very little of the Japanese. It was very important that we moved a lot and worked very hard from the back line. I’m really happy that we kept to our plan and they had no chance after the break in the first game. Tomorrow I will be going for the double win, though it will be tough. I’m looking forward to two very close matches," said Kristensen ahead of tomorrow's final.

Denmark’s new shining light in men’s singles, Jan O Jorgensen (pictured right), certainly did not have it all his own way on semi-final day as the #2 seed was pushed to the wire by the energetic Carl Baxter from England. In the first set, the Dane appeared to have things under control as he eased into an 18-12 lead but the gutsy English shuttler battled his way back into the set to tie it up at 20-20. Jorgensen steadied his nerve to take the 2 points needed to secure the opener to leave Baxter with an uphill struggle for a final berth.

"I played solidly at the beginning of the first set and made a good lead for myself but Carl played his way back into the match and put huge pressure on me. But I settled my nerves and I just managed to win that first set," commented Jorgensen later.

Game 2 saw Baxter take control and seize a 17-14 lead but the never-say-die Dane went on a point-winning bonanza to win 6 without reply to flip the set on its head and leave the Englishman wondering where it went wrong. Baxter stopped the rot, albeit briefly, as Jorgensen closed out the match with a 21-18 win.

"At 17-14 down I closed it back to 17-17 and at that point I felt I had the game in my hand but he (Baxter) played well today and I had to be at my best to beat him. Tomorrow I play Eric Pang, which will be interesting as I play him again on Tuesday in a Danish league match. I just want to go out and relax and enjoy the experience of being in the final," said Jorgensen after his semi-final success. Pang of the Netherlands beat a slightly out of sorts Hans Kristian Vittinghus in today’s other semi-final.

In the women’s singles semi finals, Juliane Schenk (pictured left) was the only ray of German light as she comfortably beat Yao Jie of the Netherlands in 2 sets 21-18, 21-12. Schenk will meet Yu Hirayama in tomorrow's final as the Japanese player made up for the disappointment of losing the women’s doubles semi-final to beat Ella Diehl of Russia 17-21, 23-21, 21-9 in the longest match of the day, which extended to 1 hour and 14 minutes. In the final set, Diehl led 9-8 but the Japanese player astonishingly managed to win the next 13 points to take her place in tomorrow's final.

"Today was great and I'm very happy. My tactics worked today. I wanted to put Yao under high pressure playing fast and I was successful. She has huge experience but I had better fitness today," said a delighted Schenk after her victory.

In the men’s doubles, Chris Adcock and Andrew Ellis prevented Mikkel Delbo Larsen from enjoying a double final spot as the English pair were rarely put under pressure in a 21-17, 21-17 victory over Delbo Larsen and Bonde. Their opponents in tomorrow's final will be the number one seeds from India, Kumar and Thomas, who enjoyed a straight-game win over Austrian veterans Koch and Zauner.

For all results click HERE.

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