DENMARK OPEN - Denmark: 3, Rest of World: 0

Wednesday, 21 October 2009 19:17

Denmark walked away with a hat trick of victories from their three top men’s singles players in the first round of the Denmark Open today with Jorgensen, Persson and number 1 seed Peter Gade living up to expectations and moving into round 2.

By Mark Phelan (Live in Odense) Photos: badmintonphoto.com (Live)

Following hot on the heels of Tine Rasmussen’s opening round win all top three Danish men’s singles eased into round 2 in front of their passionate home fans.

First up on court was the much anticipated clash between new Danish pocket rocket Jan O Jorgensen (pictured left) and the pretender to the Throne Hans Kristian Vittinghus. It was Jorgensen who set the early pace as Vittinghus failed to find any sort of rhythm. The longer the rallies in the opening set went on the more Jorgensen seemed to be in control. In the end it was Jorgensen who took the opening set 21-8.

The second set was a stark contrast to the first as Vittinghus stormed out of the blocks as if he had a point to prove. The lower ranked Dane opened up a commanding 14-8 lead and was looking in good shape to send the tie into a deciding set. But Jorgensen had other ideas and if we cast our minds back 2 weeks to the Bitburger Open final we will be reminded how its is a dangerous tactic to assume the Danish world number 12 is ever dead a buried. Just as Jorgensen fought back against Eric Pang in that final he did so again today against compatriot Vittinghus. At 21-21 the set was still in the balance but the psychological edge was always going to be with Jorgensen and he proved his worth by winning the next 2 points to advance to round two.

"It was tough here today as everyone was talking about this game which put added pressure on us both. But over the last while I feel I had the mental edge over HK and I was confident I could win. What I’m looking for now is to win my next match and hopefully get a shot at playing Peter Gade," said a buoyant Jan O Jorgensen after his win.

"I’m very disappointed in losing as I had a real good chance in the second at 14-8 up. But I then made to many errors and let Jan back into the match. There was pressure on both of us here but I feel I let an opportunity pass me by here especially in the second set," commented Vittinghus.

Next up was the miss firing Joachim Persson who, at his own admission, has not been playing at all well this season. But it is amazing how a home country event can motivate a player and that’s exactly what appeared to happen in Persson’s match against the eccentric Englishman Andrew Smith. The Dane took the opening set 21-18 and in the second came back from 19-16 down to take the match 21-19 with a delightful backhand smash that sent the Danish crowd wild.

Finally it was the turn of number 1 seed Peter Gade (pictured right) to stamp his mark on the tournament. The ever young Dane was clinical in his defeat of Swedish qualifier Henri Hurskainen as he coasted into the second round 21-13 21-6 and a step closer to the quarter final everyone wants to see between Peter “The King” Gade against the Jan “crown prince” O Jorgensen.

"It was nice to get going today. I knew a little about Henri’s game but I was ready for him. I’m pretty satisfied with the way I played and I moved him around the court which he was not happy about. Tomorrow I need to play with speed if I am to win as I watched Anand Pawar in a recent club match and I know what I need to do to beat him," said a content Peter Gade after his match.

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