Danish player Natalia Koch Rohde has not made it through the final in the Dutch Open of the women’s singles. In the semi-finals she lost to Canada’s Michelle Li. ‘I am disappointed I could not manage to take the first set. I had a chance to close the set at my match point and missed it. I did not find the rhythm in the second set, made some stupid mistakes and Michelle played very well’ Koch Rohde commented after her match. Despite the disappointing loss, Koch Rohde is still happy with her performance at the Dutch Open. ‘I played well in all my matches and succeed with the techniques I had practiced leading up to the tournament’ Koch Rohde stated.
Next week she will play her home country tournament Denmark Open in Odense.
‘Always a pleasure to the play in Odense with some Danish supporters behind me’ Koch Rohde stated. She has a tough draw, but had a good preparation in playing the Korea and Japan Open previous weeks. Besides she had practices liked she normally does: Twice a day and medical school in between her practising, as she is trying to be a doctor after her badminton career. But for now she wants to develop as a badminton player and learn for the matches she walks out off.
‘Hopefully, these small steps and experiences will bring me to the top in the world. I dream about it every day, and will do my best to make my dream come true’
All European final in mixed doubles
The mixed double final of the Dutch Open 2017 will be between England’s Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith (pictured above) and home favourites Jacco Arends/Selena Piek. Ellis and Smith beat Indian couple Ponnappa/Rankireddy in the semi-finals. ‘We played confident and more consistent, especially in the first set’ Ellis and Smith commented after their match. ‘In the second set we started off somewhat sloppier, but were able to keep the control over the match’ Ellis. In the other semi-final Arends and Piek beat Lane and Pugh in front of a cheering home crowd to prevent an all English final.
In the other women’s singles semi-final, Mariya Ulitina lost to Beiwen Zhang (USA), which will make the final an all Pan-American event. In men’s doubles German pair Josche Zurwonne and Jones Ralfy Jansen were not able to beat the Chinese Taipei pair Liao/Su today resulting in no European’s in men’s doubles final. Finally, other local favourite Mark Caljouw had again the honour to play former no. 2 Momota (Japan) for the third time since beginning of the summer. After a long and solid first set, he could not overcome the pressure in the second set Momota pulled away and eased into the final as he continues his whirlwind trip around Europe.
For all result from semi finals at Yonex Dutch Open click
HERE
For a photo gallery from today’s action in Almere click
HERE
To view all the action from court 1 on demand click
HERE
Article by Mireille Van Daal (LIVE) Photos by Mark Phelan for Badminton Europe