Gold Coast: Denmark had to shake off the rust on Monday before posting a difficult mixed doubles victory in their 2017 Sudirman Cup tie against India, with Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen posted a 21-15, 16-21, 21-17 win against Ashwini Ponnappa/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in 70 minutes.
“It was a close match. We made some uncharacteristic mistakes at the end of the third set, and they took advantage of that,” said Ashwini Ponnappa.
Going into the men’s singles match, although Ajay Jayaram of India held a 3-2 career record against World No. 3 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, the Dane managed to give his team a second point as he dismantled the Indian with a scintillating display in a 21-12, 21-7 victory in 27 minutes.
Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen closed out the tie for Denmark by defeating Manu Attri/Reddy B. Sumeeth 21-17, 21-15 in 33 minutes.
P.V. Sindhu won the only point for the Indian team before Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Christinna Pedersen of Denmark bagged the fourth point for Denmark.
Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei and Thailand became the first two teams to advance to the last 8 of this year’s Sudirman Cup, after Chinese Taipei defeated Russia 4-1, while Thailand outlasted Hong Kong 3-2.
