Antonsen, Nozomi win Denmark Open titles

ODENSE:World number seven Anders Antonsen survived an early scare to win the Men's Singles title match against Rasmus Gemke in the Denmark Open on Sunday.

It was world number 11 Gemke who started the brighter, taking the first game 21-18 before running out to a five-point lead in the second. But the fourth seeds surged to big leads in the two remaining games, eventually triumphing 18-21, 21-11, 21-14 to write their name into the history books.

The win means Antonsen moves up to second in the world rankings with Gemke at number three.

That means the world's top three men are all Danes with number one Viktor Axelsen sitting out the competition after undergoing minor surgery.

Okuhara Nozomi beat Olympic badminton champion Carolina Marin 21-19, 21-17 to claim the Women's Singles title.

Okuhara had lost her previous seven finals - including at the 2019 Denmark Open to Tai Tzu Ying - but was too strong for the Spaniard as she secured her first tournament victory since the 2018 Hong Kong Open.

There was little to choose between the pair in a high-quality encounter with Okuhara showing great defence in the first game.

They were locked at 18-18 before Marin missed what should have been an easy put-away with her opponent scrambling.

A superb smash down the line set up three game points, and the Olympic bronze medallist converted at the second attempt before bowing to the crowd.

The second game was tight until the midway stage when the 25-year-old Nagano native established a three-point lead.

She managed to stay clear of Rio 2016 gold medallist Marin, securing victory with an emphatic smash to win on her third match point.

Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich became the first German mixed doubles players to win a BWF World Tour Super 750 or Super Series event when they defeated Chris and Gabby Adcock of England in the mixed doubles final.

Despite falling 18-21 in the first game, the Germans bounced back strongly against the married third-seeded pair.

The fourth seeds surged to big leads in the two remaining games, eventually triumphing 18-21, 21-11, 21-14 to write their name into the history books.

Earlier, top seeds Fukushima Yuki and Hirota Sayaka won the battle of Japan to take the women's doubles title.

After cruising through the first game against Matsumoto Maya and Nagahara Wakana, they were made to work hard by the two-time world champions before eventually winning 21-10, 16-21, 21-18 in one hour and 11 minutes.

The men's doubles finals was even more of an epic with England's Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge taking an hour and 14 minutes to get the better of Russia's Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov.

The Rio 2016 bronze medallists came from a game down to win 20-22, 21-17, 21-18 and end a 45-year wait for an English triumph. Agencies

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