Mads Pieler Kolding and Britta Andersen got proceedings off to a positive start for Denmark as they beat reigning Swedish International champions Valeriy Atrashchenkov and Elena Prus of Ukraine. The Danes did not have it all their own way as they fell a set behind and at that point the Ukrainians looked to be heading to back to back titles in Sweden.
The Danes re grouped in the second set and Kolding’s touch and fierce some smashes began to pay dividend. The Danes preyed on Prus, who looked visibly jittery after 2 serves fouls called against her, and levelled up the match at 1 set a piece. In the third the Danes pressed home their advantage and took the title with a 21-17 win in the deciding rubber.
In the battle of the qualifiers in the men’s singles event the immensely skilful yet practically unknown Indra Bagus came out on top over crowd favourite and new kid on the European block Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. The Indonesian, whose array of trick type shots, had Axelsen flat footed for most of the match controlled the match from beginning to end and was a convincing 21-15 21-12 winner.
“This is a really exciting win for me. I played 8 matches this week but I just felt stronger and stronger as the week went on. Only against Raul Must in the quarter final did I ever feel tired but I knew that once I made this final I had to go and win it. It was a little bit strange on court as I went out with no real tactic, I just let my intuition take me through the match and it work. I’m so happy.” Said a content Bagus after his win.
Like the men’s singles the women’s individual event proved to be slightly one sided. England’s Elizabeth Cann never managed to get into her stride today and her Japanese opponent Kaori Imabeppu was just too strong on the day. The tiny Japanese shuttler covered the court with ease and Cann had no answers. Eventually Cann had to bow to her opponent and the title heads to Asia after a 21-15 21-10 victory.
In the longest match of the day Helle Nielsen and Marie Ropke, like their compatriots Kolding and Andersen before them, had to bounce back from a set down to claim the title against Paulien Van Dooremalen and Lotte Jonathans of the Netherlands. In a thoroughly entertaining match the crowd were on the edge of their seats throughout and a delighted Danish pair punched the air after 21-18 win in the deciding set.
In the last match on court there was finally some joy for England as Robin Middleton and Chris Langridge took the title they so richly deserved after a flawless week. The English duo claimed the title of Swedish International Champions in beating Skovgaard and Elbjorn and they did it without dropping a set all week. Langridge’s victory dance around the stadium after the final point was won was evidence to the fact that this win meant a lot to the English duo.
Click here to see the results from Swedish International 2010
Article and Images by Mark Phelan