Badmintonphoto
maj 10, 2022 14:26
With a 5-0 victory over France, Denmark is ready for the quarterfinals at the Thomas Cup 2022. Now the group final against China awaits tomorrow. – There will always be good matches against China, says national coach Jakob Høi.
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Back in October 2021, Denmark and France faced each other for the first time in the Thomas Cup context, and the two European nations gave us something of a team match, even though on paper it looked easy for the Danes, who won 5-0.
Today, the ‘red and white’ faced ‘Les Bleus’ for the second time in Thomas Cup history, and national coach Jakob Høi was happy that Denmark sat on the match from the start and punctured the French fighter spirit.
– It was some super concentrated singles that started the party in there. They won more confidently than expected. I think the way Viktor (Axelsen, ed.) Beats Toma (Popov, ed.) Is superior. Christo (Popov, ed.) Played fantastic at the Thomas Cup last year and yesterday, but probably only hits 40 percent today, and Anders Antonsen shuts him down completely and does not allow him anything, so it was a great start, says Jakob Høi .
Read also: Sure victory for the Danish Thomas Cup boys
After this, Mathias Christiansen / Frederik Søgaard secured the victory for Denmark, before Rasmus Gemke and Kim Astrup / Anders Skaarup cemented the 5-0 victory without giving up a single set.
With the victories over France and Algeria, Denmark must face China in a true group final to advance as number one and two in Group B. China won 5-0 over France yesterday and 5-0 over Algeria today.
– Now we are in the quarterfinals, and we must prepare for it as best we can. But we also want to make the best possible cards for the quarterfinals, and we will get that if we beat China. So now we just have to go home and check, and then we have to spend tonight and tomorrow early to find out where we stand and how we can put the best team against China, says Høi.
Also read: The Uber-Cup team: – Good energy, room for differences and the social at the top
China won silver at the Thomas Cup in Aarhus, while Denmark won bronze. But with replacements on the Chinese national team since 2020, the Danish national coach sees opportunities for Denmark to win the group final.
– There will always be good matches against China. For many of the boys, having to face China gives an extra bite. We know they are good and we make them good just by talking about them, but conversely I do not think they are better than we can beat them and I think we have opportunities in all five games . All matches can go to both sides.
Denmark-China will be played tomorrow at 14.00 Danish time and can be watched live on TV 2 SPORT and TV 2 PLAY.
Viktor Axelsen – Toma Junior Popov: 21-8, 21-11
Axelsen was again today the first Dane on the field for the men’s national team. Here he met world number 26 and big brother Popov, Toma Junior Popov.
The 28-year-old Dane started by falling behind 0-1, but from here he did not look back and first took seven points in a row before he during the set showed several tricks from the repertoire, before the set was won 21-8.
In the second set, the Olympic gold medalist also marked himself with a pair of clenched fists and a pair of outbursts that he would not slack off on in the second set. It might have helped to take the courage from Toma Popov. In any case, Axelsen did not give the Frenchman many chances and took the set safely 21-11.
– I came in and was ready from the start and sat down for the match, and then I got to use my teammates well, so it was super. I controlled the balls really well today and I managed to stand far ahead on the field and play fast and that was really, really important. And then it was super important that I passed on some energy to the team, which we have talked a lot about, said Viktor Axelsen after the match.
Click here to see more details from Denmark-France
Anders Antonsen – Christo Popov: 21-12, 21-13
There were many who were excited to see how much energy there was in Christo Popov today. For in yesterday’s match against China, little brother-Popov played 1 hour and 58 minutes of men’s singles against Lu Guang Zu and then 1 hour and 1 minute of men’s doubles.
The combination of perhaps lacking strength and then playing against a strongly playing Dane on the other side of the net meant that Popov was at no point in the match ahead of Antonsen. The Dane seemed to be in good control throughout the match, and it was also a satisfied Aarhusian we talked to after the match.
– It was a match where it was about managing the conditions and the heavy balls best. I think I did better than he did and I had more focus on playing the conditions well than on Christo. Today was a bit of a test, because Christo is a good player, so it was a test I think I solved close to perfection, Antonsen said after the match.
Read also: Get wiser on Denmark’s 12 Thomas Cup profiles
Mathias Christiansen / Frederik Søgaard – Fabien Delrue / William Villeger: 21-17, 21-16
Mathias Christiansen got a new partner today compared to yesterday, where he played with Anders Skaarup. Against France, he stood on the field with Frederik Søgaard, who got his first Thomas Cup 2022 minutes. Christiansen / Søgaard got four matches together at the most recent Thomas Cup, where they came from the championship with two victories and two defeats. Today, fortunately, a plus was added to the accounts.
– Of course we should have just started, but I think we close the match fairly smoothly, even though the others play well to begin with. I think we made a good effort and solved the situation really, really well. So it was good for our potential future work here at the Thomas Cup, said Mathias Christiansen after the match.
– It was a match where we just had to start in the heavy hall. It was my first match, so of course I had to go right in and feel the hall, and we had respect for the French, so it waved back and forth at first, but after the stay in each set, I think we sit fine on it. It was cool to finally get on the field and feel it all again, said Frederik Søgaard.
Rasmus Gemke – Arnaud Merkle: 21-17, 21-13
For the first time since the individual World Cup in December, Rasmus Gemke was on the green tournament fields again after struggling with sports hernia in the groin, which among other things kept him out of All England, VICTOR Final 4 and the European Championships.
Rasmus Gemke was in the third men’s singles and was thus on the field for the first time at the Thomas Cup 2022 in Thailand. Here he met Arnaud Merkle, who is number 63 on the world rankings, while Gemke himself takes thirteenth place. Gemke won 21-17, 21-13, and the Skovshoved player was naturally happy with both the victory and being back in the championship context.
– It was mega, mega cool to stand on the green fields again and represent Denmark. It’s always a great feeling, and the Thomas Cup is just something special, so it was a cool way to get back. The body is doing well, and securing a point for Denmark is of course also a good thing, Rasmus Gemke said after the match.
Kim Astrup / Anders Skaarup – Toma Junior Popov / Christo Popov: 21-18, 21-19.
Only Kim Astrup thus needed to get into action for Denmark, as he also sat over in the first match against Algeria, but the 30-year-old men’s doubles player was today back in his usual constellation with Anders Skaarup.
They met the Popov brothers, and the most recent showdown against them was at the Thomas Cup in Aarhus, where the Danes won 21-15, 22-20.
Astrup / Skaarup had not lost to Popov / Popov in their total of four matches, nor did they do so today. It became a close affair, but the Danes pulled the famous longest straw in the end, which resulted in a 21-18, 21-19 victory.
Tags: algeria, Anders Antonsen, Anders Skaarup, France, Frederik Søgaard, Jakob Høi, Kim Astrup, China, Mathias Christiansen, Rasmus Gemke, Thomas Cup, Thomas and Uber Cup, Thomas Stavngaard, Viktor Axelsen
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