The Danish Thomas Cup team secured a medal beating India in the quarterfinals.

On paper, the Danish team was favourite against India and with three men’s singles players and one men’s doubles pair ranked within top12 of the world ranking, the Danes presented their strongest line-up featuring stars such as Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen.

Denmark got the perfect start to the tie winning the first men’s singles. Viktor Axelsen beat the 2017 Denmark Open and French Open winner, Srikanth Kidambi in straight games, before India played their best card in the first men’s doubles.

- I think it was a good performance. Now it starts to really matter, I knew my match was important, so I tried to play the best that I could from the start and luckily it worked out fine, Axelsen said.

Loss for the men’s doubles
For the sixth time in four years, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen played Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and for the first time since French Open 2019, the Danes came out short. Skaarup Rasmussen and Astrup lost 15-21 21-17 18-21.

- I think we played an excellent game throughout the whole match but not in the first game where they played in a high level and a pace from the start, but then in the second game we restarted our game and kept ourselves in the game, until we pulled ourselves out, Anders Skaaarup Rasmussen said.

- We gave it all, and it is no shame to lose to the Indian pair. They are a world class pair and have shown that many times, but it is frustrating that we cannot give a point to our team today, Astrup said.

New title for Antonsen
“The King of Aarhus”. The nickname given to Anders Antonsen by the Danish team fit better than ever on this Friday afternoon in his hometown.

Anders Antonsen secured the second point for Denmark beating Sai Praneeth 21-8 21-15

- I was very solid in the first game and did not make many mistakes. Almost everything I did went well, but in the second game, he played better and I had to work with him for a little while, and then I was able to break him down, Antonsen said.

New pair as match winner
Mathias Christiansen and Frederik Søgaard have played less than five matches together, but today’s match will for sure be one to remember.

With a straight games win, Christiansen and Søgaard secured the medals and a spot in the semi-finals for Denmark. The Danes beat M.R. Arjun/Dhruv Kapila 21-16

It will be the third consecutive medal for the Danish Thomas Cup team. Denmark will be playing Indonesia in the semifinals on Saturday.
 
Denmark – India 3-1

Viktor Axelsen – Srikanth Kidambi 21-12 21-13

Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup - Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty 15-21 21-17 18-21

Anders Antonsen – Sai Praneeth 21-8 21-15

Frederik Søgaard/Mathias Christiansen – M.R. Arjun/Dhruv Kapila 21-16 21-9