General

Muskens & Piek settling into new scoring system
Date: 10/10/2014 3:13 PM
Published by : Manuel Røsler
Top seeded Dutch pair Selena Piek and Eefje Muskens (pictured) drew the biggest cheer of the day after seeing off the challenge of new English pair Heather Olver and Lauren Smith at quarter final stages of the Yonex Dutch Open.

The Dutch came into their home Grand Prix off the back of some less that positive results with the new experimental scoring system and looked slightly at sea after losing the opening game against the English. The beauty of the new system is that to lose the opening game is not the end of the world and Muskens in particular was mindful of that fact during the game.

“We have struggles with the new system but we knew that even after losing the opening game that it was not all lost as there was plenty of opportunities to bounce back.” Said Muskens. “We found a tactic that worked after and felt the English were getting frustrated and we capitalised on that weakness to move to the semi-final.

The Dutch top seeds now move to Super Saturday at the Dutch open where a full house will cheer them on.

“Saturday at Dutch Open is always a great atmosphere and I hope we can give the fans something to cheer about now that we seem to be finding our feet with this new scoring system” said Piek.



Barning & De Ruiter improving with every game


Jorrit De Ruiter and Samantha Barning proved that they are the form Dutch mixed doubles pair on present form and booked their semi-final spot with a hugely entertaining win over Chan & Tse of Hong Kong.

The Dutch had a remarkable comeback in the opening game after trailing 10-6 but the Asians settled to take the next two games and looked in control to advance to the semi-finals. An 11-10 victory for the Dutch in the fourth game gave the home pair the momentum going into the final set and they celebrated as if they had won the tournament taking the match in 5 sets.

“We got lucky in the opening set and that gave us some self-belief for the rest of the match as anything is possible especially after a comeback like that” said De Ruiter.

The Dutchman who has been a strong voice against the new scoring system was also quick to point out the reasons why he is against the system but stressed also that he is starting to get used to it.

“Everyone knows my feelings about the new system and I could go on for hours explaining why I am against it but that being said it is clear that I am getting used to it with this run of results here at Dutch Open”

The Dutch will now play veteran Russians Vislova & Durkin in tomorrow’s semi-final thus assuring European involvement in Sundays final after the Russians ended the run of French pair Mittelheisser and Fontaine after the French beat the top seeded Indonesians yesterday.

French defeat Germans in a classic quarter final

French men’s doubles pair Baptiste Careme and Ronan Labar came out the right side of a final set final point shootout against rising German stars Max Schwenger and Josche Zurwonne.

After trading the opening four games and tied at 10-10 in the final set the French kept their nerve in a classic final rally to advance to the semi-final.

The pro setting camp will sure to use this match as an example as to why two point setting should be incorporated in the new scoring system and after this match it is hard to disagree with their argument as the peak, even if only for the final game, could have been extended in such and enthralling match.

English singles take fight to Asia

English pair Rajiv Ouseph and Fontaine Chapman are the last Europeans standing in both singles disciplines after coming through relatively easy in their respective quarter finals.

Ouseph was in defiant form against former training partner Kestitus Navickas of Lithuania while Chapman was made to work slightly harder against surprise packet from this week’s tournament, Liza Zharka of Ukraine.

“I had to take the crowd out of the game today against Kestutis as he is a crowd pleaser and can feed off their energy. Once I got in front I felt comfortable and the tournament now kicks up a gear against Ajay Jayaram tomorrow” said Ouseph after his victory.

For all results from Yonex Dutch Open click HERE
For full facebook photo gallery from Almere click HERE

Article and Images by Mark Phelan (Live in Almere for Badminton Europe)
©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

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