Odense: A dramatic day of the quarter-final actions and upsets brought the Denmark Open to a climax on Friday in Odense, Denmark.
World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia appeared to be the favorite to win the Denmark Open title after several top badminton players such as Jan Jorgensen, and Viktor Axelsen have faltered in both the first and second round.
However, Lee’s dream of winning his fourth Denmark Open title was dashed in when he was stunned by Brice Leverdez of France 17-21, 22-20, 19-21 in 77 minutes. Leverdez will fight Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand in the semi-finals on Saturday.
No. 6 seed Son Wan Ho of Korea became the only seeded men’s singles player to advance on Friday after Son saw off Shi Yuqi of China 21-13, 15-21, 21-18. Son will meet compatriot Lee Hyun Il in the semi-final. Both South Koreans had met each other in the semi-final of Korea Open 3 weeks ago where Son was able to come out on top of the 36-year-old Lee.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s No. 4 seeds men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong needed 45 minutes to dispatch their No. 8 seeds opponents Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen with 21-18, 25-23. Goh/Tan will take on Denmark’s No. 2 seeds Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen next. The Denmark pair demolished No. 6 seeds and the 2016 All England champions Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov of Russia 21-14, 21-5 in the men’s doubles quarter-finals on Friday.
Earlier Friday, No. 1 mixed doubles pair Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na went down 13-21, 18-21 to No. 5 seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen of Denmark.
