Meril Loquette is on the brink of exiting the SU5 men’s singles on day one of the Denmark Para badminton International.

The world number seven had a nightmare in Odense today. The fifth seed was favourite to top his group before the tournament began this morning, but began badly for the Frenchman when he dropped a game to Jack Wilson (WAL).

Loquette managed to come through in a tough three game match, ending 21-19, 19-21, 21-19. The score line surprised even the most eager Para badminton fan. 

His second group match was against Japan’s Tetsuo Ura, the world number fourteen, a man he would expect to beat. It ended disastrously for Europe’s second SU5 with a 21-7, 21-16 score that flatters the Japanese journeyman. 

With one match left to decide the group, a match up against Ilker Tuzcu (TUR), win or lose it appears Loquette’s chances of progressing to the knockout stages are very slim.

Read: “Our biggest result ever” (Delrue and Gicquel)

Number one Rooke in long battle

With the absence of Kim Jungjun (KOR) and Chan Ho Yuen (HKG), the top two players in the world, WH2 world number three Martin Rooke (ENG) became the top seed in Odense.

With the world expecting a Denmark International win for the Englishman this week, it seemed the intensity was a lot for Rooke to handle and a 21-23, 21-17, 21-17 win over Germany’s Rick Hellman showed that he found life difficult during his opening group match. We spoke to Rooke after the match who had this to say,

-I was tense, there was a lot of pressure. I didn’t play anywhere near my best and I need to improve as the tournament goes on.

We asked how this difficult match effects his week and whether he felt the pressure of being number one, and the expectations that brings:

-I don’t really take a lot of notice of the rankings or points, I know I need to focus on my performance. If I perform well I know the points will come with it and should be enough to get me there, so I don’t look at winning the tournament, I focus on each match and playing the best I can, he said.

For a full list of the Denmark Para badminton International 2019 entries, see tournament software here.