Quart finals : Antonsen again !
The tournament image, the Indian Pusarla V. Sindhu played her match against Chen Yufei to qualify into the semi finals. It was actually a rematch: both girls already met recently at the Denmark Open: The Chinese was triumphant. Not this time. Sindhu easily beat the 19 years old, Chen Yufei. In fact, two straight games in favour of Sindhu. She continues her way into the next round in Paris. She said that she felt confident today. She is also thankful to the crowd for supporting her during her match. When we ask her about any advice she would give, she said: “You have to believe in yourself” See you tomorrow Sindhu! She will face the Japanese Akane Yamaguchi.
At the same time, the 1st seed of the mixed double draw were also playing: The Chinese pair Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen. The title-holders were playing their last match together according to the Chinese press. Against them, an English pair that made a great surprise on the tournament. The ranked 34 reached the quarter finals when no one would have bet on it.
They gave the public a three game match: The French crowd showed a support toward the English pair (They represented ones of the last few European pairs) But, even with the public behind them, they couldn’t beat their opponents. Score: 21-18 21-19 21-16. They will meet the Danish pair Pedersen/Christiansen tomorrow.
Another mixed doubles match: The Malaysian pair Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing lost against the 4th seed: the Indonesian Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir. They gave the public an incredible 3 game match. Score: 19-21 21-14 21-12. They will face the Chinese Zhang/Li tomorrow.
The 1st seed of the women’s double was playing, hoping to reach the semi final. Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahshi are ranked 2. Unfortunately, another pair from Japan was better this time: Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara beat their peers in straight sets. Score: 21-18 21-17. They will meet the Korean Lee/Shin tomorrow.
The 20 years old Anders Antonsen made his entrance on court. After yesterday’s accomplishment where he has beaten Chen Long, all the crowd was waiting for him. He played is 2nd round match against the player from Hong Kong Ng Ka Long Angus. No worries for Antonsen, he reached the semi finals in straight game. Score: 21-16 21-16.
At the same time, was playing the women’s single match with two famous players: The Thai Ratchanok Intanon (6) faced the 1st seed of the woman’s single draw, Tai Tzu Ying (1) the crowd must have wanted more: The Thai made easy mistakes and let her opponent reach the semi finals. Score: 21-18 21-12. She is going to play against the Chinese He Binjiao for the semi finals tomorrow.
Two great matches were playing at the same time from the same country: The mixed double Christinna Pedersen and Mathias Christiansen and on the other side, their peers, Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen. The French crowd was on fire! In fact, both matches went in 3 games. In one hand, the men’s double where the Danish pair faced Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, had such a tough match to handle. A three game match where both pairs gave their best to reach the semi final. The title-holders imposed their game and beat their opponent, with such a support from the public. Score: 21-5 17-21 21-17. In the other hand, their peers, the mixed double Pedersen/Christiansen were playing next to them. It was also a three game match that amazed the crowd. The Danish pair is actually a fresh association. Christinna Pedersen used to play with Joachim Fischer Nielsen. They have achieved lots together, such as Bronze medal at the Olympics 2012 and at the European Championship 2014. We can definitely say that their recent association is promising. Today they qualified into the semi finals with lot of ambition. They said that the crowd showed them such an amazing support. They are determined to go as far as possible. See you guys tomorrow!
On the central court, the titleholder Shi Yuqi faced the recent champion in the Denmark Open, Kidambi Srikanth. What a match! Both players demonstrated a high quality of game with lot of precision. The Indian lead the end of the game which permitted him to win the match. Score: 8/21 21/19 21/9. The Indian will meet tomorrow his peer Prannoy H. S., another Indian player.
The titleholder in woman’s single also won her match. The Chinese He Binjiao beat her opponent Jang Mi Lee in straight set. Score: 25-23 21-10. We’ll see her trying to qualify for another final in Paris.
The crowd has been amazed by a match in particular: a woman’s single, with the 5th seed Akane Yamaguchi and the 3rd seed Sung Ji Hyun. Both player played an exhausting match. In fact, points were so long that it amazed the public. Their resilience was crazy. At the end, the is the Akane Yamaguchi that made the game point. However, the score was so close that, it could have been the other player easily. Both players were playing great. Score: 17-21 21-15 23-21. She is going to meet Pusarla V. Sindhu in semi finals.
Yesterday, the Russian man’s double made a great achievement by beating the 3rd seed. Today they played their match to get into the semi finals. Their opponents were too good. The Chinese, He/Tan beat them pretty easily. Score: 21-15 21-9.