The Danish duo of Mads Kolding and Mads Conrad-Petersen have entered this tournament with a second seeding and with the challenge of trying a fixed height on the service for the first time.
Their opponents Kittinupong Kedren (163 cm) and Dechapol Puavaranukroh (169 cm) from Thailand did not manage to survive the match without being affected by the new rule. They lost 21-19 in the first and 21-13 in the second game.
- We were all struggling to get started in the match. It was obvious to see that they were thinking about it a lot and we were thinking about it a lot, so the match was different, and, we knew that this was going to happen, Kolding (205 cm) said to Badminton Europe.
- If I had gotten a service fault or two in the first game, I think we would have lost it. So, it is a delicate line and I am just happy that we won the first game and destroyed them in the second.
A huge disadvantage
It was obvious to the Danes that Kedren and Puavaranukroh were thrown by their own service faults during the match. Kolding and Conrad steered clear and with the first game-win, they got the boost they needed for the rest of the match.
- I think it is really powerful by us that we beat them because it is without a doubt a huge disadvantage for us. We did not just lie down flat on the ground, which we have plenty of reasons to do, but we are actually still showing that we want to play badminton, Conrad (186 cm) added and continued;
- I am not sure that many other players above 2 meters could do what you or we did today. If we had not prepared for this, we would have lost with the score: 10 and 10. No doubt.
Difference of height
Kolding pointed out that, the differences of heights could not have been displayed better than it was today between him and his lowest opponent on the other side of the net, Kedren.
- If we had gotten a service fault in the first game, then I think it would have been so easy to lose focus - we have seen it happen to everyone here.
- It will take some time to get used to this and hopefully they will get wiser and throw it out just as quickly as it arrived. But so far, we have to respect that it is here and work under these conditions. We can stand and talk about it and be annoyed by it all we want but this are the rules now, Kolding stated.