Last Alsatian on track this week in Asia, Thom Gicquel (Red Star Mulhouse), who will obviously miss the first day of national interclubs this Saturday with his club traveling to Stella Saint-Maur in pool 2 of the Top 12, qualified this Thursday at dawn for the mixed quarter-finals at the Victor China Open in Changhzou, Super 1000 tournament on the world circuit.
After dismissing the Chinese Chen Fang Hui and Cheng Xing, 27th in the world, in the first round (21-10, 21-19), the Mulhousien and the Camblysienne Delphine Delrue, planetary n°8 and seeded 8, have, in the second , also disposed in two sets of the Japanese Natsu Saito and Hiroki Midorikawa, 18th (21-19, 21-17), who had dominated them in their only previous duel last March at the German Open in Mulheim (21-16, 21- 13).
Led for almost the entire first round, the five-time champions of France have never been more than three points behind (10-13) before going to pick it on the wire. Still behind at 8-10 in the second, they turned things around with a 6-0 and never let go of their prey.
Their quarter-final this Friday will pit them against other Japanese, Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino, world n°2 and seed 2. On paper, the 2022 European vice-champions do not start as favorites, but in three confrontations, they won twice against the Japanese, winners of the Japan Open (Super 750) at the end of July in Tokyo and vice-world champions 2021 and 2022.
2023-09-07 10:01:00
#Badminton #Mulhousien #Thom #Gicquel #double #blow #Japanese
