Jorgensen travelled to Dubai on the back of a semi-final in Hong Kong and victory at the China Open and today’s match against HU Yun suggests that the world number 3 has carried that form into the final event of the year. 

The Dane has had a particularly good record against Hu Yun winning 4 of their 5 meetings but today’s 21-8 21-5 win goes a long way to suggest that Jorgensen is the man to beat this week in Dubai. 

Purposeful kick start to Adcock’s title defence

Chris & Gabby Adcock (pictured above) put their funding woes behind them to kick start the defence of their mixed doubles crown in the most defiant manner possible. The seeding would suggest the English husband and wife team are outsiders for their group let alone the title but their 21-15 21-9 victory over Kazuno & Kurihara of Japan suggests the complete opposite. 

“Perfect start for us here today in Dubai. A straight sets win against the Japanese and a good performance #happy” commented Chris Adcock via his twitter feed. 

Germany’s Marc Zwiebler was the first European in action today and while things did not go according to plan for the 2012 European Champion there was better news for another one of Europe’s early starters.

Mads Pieler Kolding and Mads Conrad Petersen got their men’s doubles group campaign off to the perfect start taking down the groups top seeds Kamura and Sonada of Japan in two games. However, Denmark were shaken by the forced withdrawal of Boe and Mogensen who were certainly fancied to claim a podium spot this week in Dubai after a great run of form. A bout of illness for Mathias Boe the reason behind the Danes forced retirement which leaves Conrad and Kolding flying the flag for Denmark and Europe. 

Luck was not on the side of Olympic Champion Carolina Marin as the Spaniard came unstuck against Sun Yu of China even after a spirited fight back in the second game. It will be an uphill struggle now for the World, Olympic and European champion to advance from her group with matches against Pusarla & Yamaguchi to come. 

Pedersen double success on day 1 in Dubai

Christinna Pedersen’s double pronged attack on the Super Series finals podium got off to a 100% start today as she came through both her mixed and women’s doubles opening group matches in some style. 

Alongside Joachim Fischer Pedersen was involved on one of the longest matches of the day against Korean duo Kim Ha Na & Ko Sung Hyun. The Danes and the Koreans have had many ding dong battles over the years and today’s encounter proved to be no different. 

After sharing the opening sets the Danes came through in the deciding rubber 21-16 in a match that stretched to 73 minutes. 

Pedersen followed up with success in the women’s doubles with partner Kamilla Rytter Juhl (pictured above) as the Danes beat Malaysian pair Hoo & Woon in dominant fashion. 

In the very final match of the day Viktor Axelsen rounded off what proved to be decent day for Europe by beating Ng Ka Long Angus to sit top of group B in the men's singles. The loss of Lee Chong Wei to Son Wan Ho in the same groups means that Group B is likely to go down to the wire with the Malaysian and the Hong Kong shuttlers looking to bounce back in the second round of group matches. 

For all results from day 1 in Dubai click HERE