Tokyo: In a rematch of last month’s Olympic final, Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark came through grueling 3-set thriller, toppling Rio Games gold medalists Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo 19-21, 21-18, 21-12 to win the Japan Open women’s doubles title on Sunday.
In the first set, Pedersen/Juhl lost their momentum when they were leading at 19-17, allowing Takahashi/Matsutomo to reel off 4 points to wrap up the game.
The Denmark pair was trailed 7-12 in the second set before mounting a comeback to force a decider. At 13-14, Pedersen came up with 2 great smashes to put themselves in a 15-14 advantage before they went on to claim the second set.
The final game was relatively one-sided, with Pedersen/Juhl playing great defence while forcing the Japanese pair to make a lot of mistakes. The Denmark pair pulled away from 5-5 and eventually ended the 75-minutes encounter in their favor.
Pedersen/Juhl has improved their career head to head record against Takahashi/Matsutomo to 5-8 after the win. Their previous victory against the Japanese pair was in December 2014.
In the all-Chinese women’s singles final, 19-year-old He Bingjiao cruised past her senior Sun Yu 21-14, 7-21, 21-18 in 61 minutes to clinch the Japan Open title.
