Circuit

Roth not feeling any pressure in Uppsala
Date: 1/16/2015 12:55 PM
Published by : Manuel Røsler
The main draw of the 2015 edition of the Swedish masters commenced today in what proved to be the day for the underdog in the men’s singles. Qualifiers Fabian Roth (pictured) & Steffen Rasmussen both booked unlikely quarter final spots while 2014 finalists Ville Lång and Henri Hurskainen both bowed out in the second round.

Roth was in no mood for some on court mind games with Petr Koukal as the Czech number 1 did his best to upset the momentum of the 2013 European junior champion by looking for a change in shuttle speed mid-way through the second game of their second round match.

“I just had to stay completely focused as I knew he was trying to break my rhythm when I was leading comfortably in the second game” said Roth of the incident.

The German led 18-13 in that second game and closed out the match even after a comeback by Koukal who closed the gap to two at 18-16 before a mature performance from the German saw him cruise into the quarter final with a 21-12 21-16 victory.

“For me I can play here with no pressure as all my opponents are favourites against me. Tomorrow is a new day and like today there will be no pressure in the quarter final against Rajiv Ouseph as I have really nothing to lose so I will go out and enjoy the experience” said a relaxed Roth after his victory today.

Steffen Rasmussen took care of Frenchman Lucas Corvee in round 1 before ending the home town challenge of Henri Hurskainen in round two. Rasmussen didn’t drop a single game in his main draw matches today and set his goals out for 2015 after to Badminton Europe.

“I would like to break into the top 100 in world this year and maybe win an International Series tournament in 2015” said the smiling Dane based in Odense. Rasmussen is well on the way to achieving both those goals and will fancy his quarter final chances against veteran Dane Joachim Persson tomorrow.

Natalia Koch Rhode unleashes her true potential

It has been a barren spell for Danish youngster Natalia Koch Rhode of late but a spirited run through qualification to a pair of emphatic wins today in the main draw sees the tall Dane sit where she rightly belongs, at the quarter final of a circuit International challenge. The Dane beat 8th seed Natalia Perminova in round one before needing three games to take down Belgian number 1 Lianne Tan in round two. A quarter final spot against Linda Zetchiri is the Danes reward as the last qualifier in the women’s singles draw.

Top seed Beatriz Corrales ended the run of Mia Blichfeldt while while Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour look to be back to her exquisite best as she barely broke second gear against Sabrina Jaquet and Kati Tolmoff to reach the quarter final.

Fontaine Chapman caused one of the bigger upsets of the day in the women’s singles draw taking down third seed Line Kjaersfeldt in round one before ending the qualification run of fellow Brit Nicola Cerfontyne in three games in round 2.

No trouble for the mixed doubles big guns

The mixed doubles draw saw all the big guns safely through with second seeds De Ruiter & Barning the only pair that were forced to shake off some post-Christmas blues as they were taken to three games by Zinchenko & Morozova of Russia.

In the men’s doubles Van Rietvelde and Coles beat Scottish Open GP winners Daugaard and Christiansen in the first round before been beaten themselves by top seeds Cwalina and Wacha in the second round in two games.

Second seeds Skaarup and Astrup were pushed hard by Swedish old guard Tim Foo and Richard Eidestedt in a wobbly performance from a Danish perspective while that match of the day in the men’s doubles saw Jelle Maas and Jacco Arends lose out 22-20 in the deciding set against 4th seeds Careme and Labar of France.

The women’s doubles draw saw a welcome return to competitive action for Maria Helsbøl of Denmark after a year out with injury. Her last circuit event was indeed the Swedish Masters last year and alongside partner Lena Grebak the Dane was straight back to business with a comfortable win over French duo Baumann & Fontaine.

To re visit all the action from the BETV streaming court and to watch the quarter-finals live from 9.30am local time tomorrow click HERE.

Article and Image by Mark Phelan (Live in Sweden)
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