Danes Joachim Fischer Nielsen (left) and Christinna Pedersen beat German pair Peter Kaesbauer-Isabel Herttrich 21-14, 21-8 on Tuesday- File pic.
ODENSE: The first day of the Denmark Open Superseries Premier delivered an interesting string of upsets in the mixed doubles event as the race for a spot in the BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals heated up.
Europe, traditional powerhouses in mixed doubles are in danger of only having one representative in Dubai - Danes Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen after two other leading pairs were dumped out in the opening round on Tuesday.
Fifth seeds - husband and wife pair Chris and Gabrielle Adcock were dealt a huge blow after suffering a shocking 19-21, 21-19, 13-21 defeat to Japan’s Kenichi Hayakawa-Misaki Matsutomo.
The Japanese world No.21 will go on to meet Danes Mads Pieler Kolding-Kamilla Rytter Juhl in the second round.
Seventh seeds Michael Fuchs-Birgit Michels were also sent tumbling out of the tournament after Indonesia’s Riky Widianto-Puspita Richi Dili thrashed them 21-11, 21-13.
The Indonesians who are ranked No.17 in the world will go on to meet China’s Liu Yuchen-Luo Yu in the second round.
The defeat for the English and German pair who are currently seventh and eighth on the Superseries rankings means they are set to lose valuable points.
To make matters worse, it will only benefit both Riki-Puspita and Hayakawa-Matsutomo who are currently ninth and 10th in the Superseries standings.
Home favourites Nielsen-Pedersen however were in no mood to mess around as they dispatch Germany’s Peter Kaesbauer-Isabel Herttrich 21-14, 21-8 to strengthen their current position as fifth in the race to Dubai.
Another significant upset on the day saw Thailand’s Maneepong Jongjit-Sapsiree Taerattanachai shock sixth seeds Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na.
The Thais who are also in the running for a shot at the season ending finale in December, won the match 21-18, 17-21, 21-16.
The men’s singles event that has seen the withdrawals of world No.1 Lee Chong Wei and world No.4 Kenichi Tago will only start on Wednesday.
Three-time winner Lin Dan who last appeared in the Denmark meet in 2007 will be the main attraction and he takes on Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen in the first round.
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