Day two in Bangkok wrapped up the first round of the TOYOTA Thailand Open. Here are the results which grabbed the headlines.
True champions have several standout traits above anything else. One of which is the ability to bounce back from a tough loss. French mixed doubles pair Thom Gicquel/ Delphine Delrue had the perfect opportunity lined up to do just that.
Reaching the semifinals last week, they defeated 11 in the world Tan Kian Meng/ Lai Pei Jing, Denmark Open champions Mark Lamsfuss/ Isabel Herttrich, but came up just short against the All England champions, Praveen Jordan/ Melati Oktavianti.
Today, they were drawn against the Indonesians in the first round, with a chance for instant revenge. However, it was Jordan/ Oktavianti who got off to the better start, winning the opening game 21-14. There was a complete swing in the second game as the French took the initiative, winning 21-9.
In the decider, the scores were relatively even, with Gicquel/ Delrue building a small lead at the change of ends with 11-8. Then what came next was reminiscent of a pair that sensed their opponents were not up for the fight. Five points in a row made it 16-8, and with solid game management at the end, they completed another big win in their young careers.
-The key was to keep the attack to win this match. They did that really well in the first, but we kept high in the second game and when you have the attack in mixed it’s the easiest way to win the match, Gicquel explains simply.
After their semifinal loss against them last week, they said in the post-match interview ‘we know we can beat them’, well they proved it today by backing up those words on the court.
-We expected it to be a tough match as they are four in the world, but we knew we can beat them if we get the chance, and we got this chance today. I think it is a surprise for everyone except us because we already beat them last year, so we knew we can win if we play at a good level, and last week it was close, so we were confident before the match, Delrue stated happily.
A brace for England
England had three shots at advancement to the next round in the men’s and mixed doubles. Although a tight match, Mohammad Ahsan/ Hendra Setiawan were able to limp over the line and win 23-21, 21-15 against Marcus Ellis/ Chris Langridge.
In contrast, it was pure joy for England’s Ben Lane/ Sean Vendy. Having already scored a big win over Ivanov/ Sozonov last week, they faced the prospect of world number six pair, Fajar Alfian/ Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
Both games were very similar in structure, with nothing to separate the pairs in the first half of the games, the English pair was able to each time put an important run of five points together. Despite the Indonesians best efforts Lane/ Vendy were able to hang on. The pairs biggest win thus far in their careers ended 21-18, 21-19 and they now go on to play India’s M.R. Arjun/ Dhruv Kapila for a chance to get into the quarterfinals.
Number seven seeds, Marcus Ellis/ Lauren Smith, were not wanting to miss out on the fun and had to come from behind against Malaysia’s Tan Kian Meng/ Lai Pei Jing. Dropping the first game 21-14, they took control of the second game to go into a third. When it mattered, the European Games gold medallists were 19-15 up, only to let their opponents back in to level the score at 19-19. Two more tense points sealed the victory.
For the full results and fixtures, click here.