On the second day of the Denmark Open 2022 in Odense, all remaining players started into the tournament, except for one. Anders Antonsen had to withdraw from his home tournament due to an injury. He hopes to be back in time for the French Open starting next Tuesday.
Viktor Axelsen was clearly the crowds favourite today in his hometown Odense. The World Champion played his first round against Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand. In the rematch of the World Championship final in August, Axelsen won easily 21-16 21-8.
"I’m really happy about my game, controlled it well and moved well. My goal is obviously to go all the way. It’s going to be a tough week but I’m happy that I didn’t lose that much of my energy in the first round", said Axelsen.
He will face countryman Rasmus Gemke in the round of 16 on Thursday evening.
For most of the players the Denmark are the first big tournament after a two-months break since the World Championships and the Japan Open in August. This is also the case for the French pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue:
"It was a nice feeling to be back on court and we were excited to play", said Delrue. The world's number seven had a successful start against Young Hyuk Kim and Lee Yu Lim from Chinese Taipei winning 21-13 22-24 21-12 in 64 minutes.
After blowing three match points in the second game they managed to control the match down the stretch. "
We were a little too stressed to win the match. We didn’t control the end of the second game. But we stayed focused and calm for the third game", stated Thom Gicquel.
While many Europeans advanced to the round of 16, last years finalists in men's doubles, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, are no longer in the tournament. The Danes were eliminated as well as the reigning European champions Mark Lamsfuß and Marvin Seidel from Germany.
Find all results from the second day of the Denmark Open 2022
here.
Thursday's action will start 9:00AM with livestreams available at the
BWF YouTube account.