What a fantastic month it's been for Rasmus Kjær and Frederik Søgaard, and it's not over.
The Danish men's doubles pair defeated the second-seeded Liang Wei Keng and Wang today at the French Open round of 16. Their impressive victory was a continuation of their winning streak after beating the same pair just last week at the Denmark Open first round.
At the Denmark Open, Kjær and Søgaard displayed their tenacity, securing a thrilling victory with a score of 18-21 21-19 21-18. However, they took things up a notch at the French Open, managing to clinch the win in straight games with a final score of 21-14 21-18.
When asked about their preparation for facing the Indonesian pair twice in such a short span of time, Kjær shared, “Fantastic, last week was a huge win for us as well. They were by far, and still are the best players we’ve beaten. We were really happy after that performance [Denmark Open], but then we had a rough match in the second round. So, we wanted to come here and have a good week.”
Søgaard added, "We talked about last week's game, but I think for us it was the same preparation. We had some focus points that we had to stick to, and otherwise, it was our own game plan that we had to focus on. Moving our legs, staying calm."
The pair is currently riding high, having reached the semifinals at the Arctic Open, where they narrowly missed out on victory against the Malaysian pair of Man/Tee with a score of 21-19 19-21 19-21.
Kjær and Søgaard's partnership began back in March 2022 at the German Open, where they faced an early exit in the first round. Their journey since then has been nothing short of inspiring.
When asked about the significance of their recent wins, Søgaard responded, "[These wins] give us a lot of confidence. We know we are on the right track, and it's nice to already feel that we can beat some of the top players, so we just have to keep going and believe in ourselves."
"Then we will soon be on top," he added with a smile towards his partner.
It’s not all!
But the excitement doesn't stop there! Margot Lambert and Anne Tran are also making waves in the badminton world, consistently surpassing their own records. They achieved their first Super 500 quarterfinal at the Arctic Open, and now, just two weeks later, they find themselves in their first Super 750 quarterfinal at the French Open.
Tran expressed her emotions, saying, "It's an amazing feeling, in front of the French crowd. I have no words to describe it." This remarkable achievement came on the back of their hard-fought victory against Korea's Lee Yu Lim and Shin Seung Chan, with a final score of 21-23 21-14 21-13.
"We've worked really hard for the past two years, so we're really happy to be getting our best result here. It's important for us, and we are probably at our best level right now," Tran continued.
Both pairs have deserved their place in the quarterfinals, and these moments will undoubtedly remain engraved in their memories for a long time to come.