Quarterfinals day at the All England Open 2021 is throwing up some surprise results, Momota bowed out earlier, and now reigning champions Hiroyuki Endo/ Yuta Watanabe managed a very narrow escape.
Mathias Christiansen/ Niclas Nøhr scored a big win to enter the quarterfinals, defeating the Olympic silver medallists, Goh V Shem/ Tan Wee Kiong. Today they faced the reigning champions, Endo/ Watanabe, who had to dig deep to secure the win. The Danes once again showed how dangerous they can be, especially with their attack, only losing out by a narrow margin, 22-24 19-21.
-I think we played really well, we were confident on court with the relaxed style we were playing today. We had chances in both games, however, the Japanese are playing really well, they don't give you any easy points. It's a little bit tough right now but I think we can be proud of our performance, Nøhr said.
It has to be noted, Christiansen/ Nøhr are not like most European pairs on court, rarely showing much emotion.
-They are very strong, possibly the ones to beat at this tournament as they are the defending champions. They played very well, and their defence is very strong, Christiansen commended their opponents.
-Men's doubles at the moment is our second priority, the three matches we played here have been the best of the partnership so far, and we are ready to continue forward. Christiansen explaining perhaps why they played with no pressure.
-We didn't know until the end but we're very happy to finally win and be in the semifinal. I think we still have to play with confidence to win tomorrow, Watanabe said, still having a mixed doubles match to play later on.
I don’t know what to say
Jeppe Bay/Lasse Mølhede, SaarLorLux Open 2020 winners, delivered a strong 21-19 21-12 win over Nipitphon Phuangphuapet/ Tanupat Viriyangkura.
-I think it was a good performance, not the best start but we came through. I think we got some really good movement in the middle of the court, especially in the first game and then we were dominating the whole match. We're really happy about to match. It's really unbelievable [on reaching the semifinals]. I can't imagine it right now. I just don't know what to say. Mølhede was left speechless.
-We've seen our opponents play before in Thailand. We know Nipitphon a lot from when we were younger so it's crazy to play on this stage against such players and to compete against them is really, really nice. Bay noted.
They will now attempt to inflict revenge for Denmark against title holders, Hiroyuki Endo/ Yuta Watanabe in the semifinal tomorrow.