Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark did what they have done in prior matches in the tournament this week; survived their opponents’ set points and turned them into a match point.
They won the mixed double final at 2016 Yonex Denmark Open: 21-16, 22-20 - with the dramatic end that everybody had been hoping for.
It has been five years since the mixed double won the Denmark Open-title, but yesterday they could hold up the trophy once again after a well-played final.
The Danes have been fired up throughout the tournament for the liking of the home crowd. Especially, Fischer Nielsen, who has 18 years on his male opponent, showed a determination and a will that was missing during the Olympics, and with Christinna they literally fought their way to the title.
In the final, the Danes managed to shut down and confuse their Chinese opponents in the first set. Reigning Junior World Champions and recent winners of Japan Open, Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen managed to find their strength in the second set.
Despite a Danish lead in the beginning, their opponents fought their way back to their first lead: 9-8. And just as one would think the final would go into a third set, the Danes took their game an extra level up with icy calm.
18-20-set point to Zheng/Chen was not enough to shake the Danes, and a well-placed smash by Christinna, a Chinese shuttle in the net followed by a shuttle outside of the sideline, gave the Danes the Championship point they had worked so hard for. And without any hesitation, they could call themselves winners of the Superseries Premier tournament.
A great example of the success they have achieved in this tournament, can be found in the two previous matches as well.
In Saturday’s semifinal against Chris and Gabby Adcock, the Danes made a similar comeback where they were behind 15-18, before taking six points in a row and succeeding to final. And in the quarter final, they beat the number one ranked, Koreans Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na, in straight sets.
In the final stages of the tournament, the Danish mixed double has played with an extreme passion and the home crowd might have been an indicator to their fired up-approach. One thing is for sure, they crowd got the entertainment and the title they were hungry for.
An amazing rally from the tournament can be relived right below in BWF’s ‘Play of the Day’:
Find the results from 2016 Yonex Denmark Open presented by Danisa
here.