Anders Antonsen and Rasmus Gemke set up an all-Danish men’s singles final at the Denmark Open after both shuttlers recorded victories over their opponents in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Third seeded Antonsen needed slightly less than an hour to see off the challenge from Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen 21-17, 21-15.
The world number three, who had retired his teammate Jan O Jorgensen in the quarter-finals, came into this match having won only once in eight meetings against Chou.
But the 23-year-old controlled the match from the offset to march into his second final this year.
“I played a solid match today. I was maybe the smarter player on court today and didn’t make many mistakes. I guess Rasmus [Gemke] is the underdog for the final, but there are many emotions going into a match like that. The challenge will be to stay calm,” said Antonsen.
Gemke was equally in fine form to beat Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 21-14, 21-17, a player he had never beaten before to reach his first major final.
The women’s singles final will see both top seeds Nozomi Okuhara and Carolina Marin battle it out for the title.
Both women did not need to exert too much energy in their semi-final encounters, winning comfortably in straight games.
Japanese Okuhara finished off Canada’s Michelle Li 21-10, 21-7, while Marin dispatched Germany’s Yvonne Li 21-17, 21-11.
Playing the Spaniard in the final seemed a dream come true for Okuhara.
“I decided to attend the Denmark Open because Marin was attending too, so I am happy I have reached the final and will be able to play against her,” said the Japanese.
The women’s doubles will be an all Japanese affair pitting Yuki Fukuhisma-Sayaka Hirota and Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara.
The men’s doubles meanwhile is set to be a European encounter between English pair Marcus Ellis-Chris Langridge, who face dynamic Russian duo Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov.
The mixed doubles will see English couple Chris-Gabrielle Adcock take on Germans Mark Lamsfuss-Isabel Herttrich.
