Gemke ignited a spark of excitement in the home crowd by beating the reigning world champion.
On the second day of the VICTOR Denmark Open 2023, the stakes grew higher, and the Danish audience held its collective breath as the home players took to court halfway through the day. The first to do so — Mathias Thyrri /Amalie Magelund, Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt, and Maiken Fruergaard/ Sara Thygesen — found the competition incredibly fierce, unable to secure those sought-after victories.
It was then the turn of the next hopeful. Rasmus Gemke was to face no other than the recently crowned world champion, Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The Dane got off to a great start securing the first game 21-15, but the Thai player stroke back by pushing the match to three games.
“I was on the ropes, and it was difficult to find the balance in the game — not because I was playing bad, it was difficult to find weak spots in his game,” admitted the Dane, reflecting on the intense match.
Gemke closely tried to catch up with his opponent in the decider, winning in what was a close fight to conclude the thriller, 19-21. This victory obviously meant a lot to the home player, who stated, “It’s absolutely crazy and I can feel that it’s going around in my head right now, with a lot of joy, because it is of course a big surprise.”
The remarkable triumph meant just as much to those watching from the stands, who celebrated joyfully after the exciting encounter. Gemke compared today’s atmosphere to the one in this year’s World Championships, where the Copenhagen crowd went wild when cheering. “It has been amazing [today’s crowd]. The World Championships was a crazy experience, you can see that it has sparked something in the hearts of Danish badminton fans. It was once again an amazing experience.”