PETALING JAYA: Singles shuttlers Magnus Johannesen and Ditlev Jaeger Holm were seen as the weak links, but the duo rose to the occasion to give Denmark a positive start in the Thomas Cup Finals.
Both Johannesen and Holm credited the home support and team camaraderie for their superb 4-1 win over South Korea in their opening Group tie at Forum Horsens on Friday.
“They (the crowd) supported us well and contributed a lot. I hope they will keep doing so throughout the week,” said the 24-year-old Johannesen.
“With their support I think we can go further than any of us would have imagined. I think it give us a lot of belief, and we can feel it on court.
“With that crowd I think we can surprise a lot of teams. We feel like we outnumber the opponents with that sort of support.
“We had discussed beforehand, that this would be a very close match, and I didn’t consider us favourites going in to the fixture – we just told each other that we needed to give it everything, and I think we did.”
Holm was happy to do his part.
“It was incredibly great to be in the arena. I felt the tremendous support from the team no matter the score, and that made the experience great,” he said.
“I think this tie shows, that we have kept the promises we made to each other.
“We gave our all whether we were underdogs or slight favourites – we had to give everything.
“We are maybe not the kind of teams Denmark have been previously with the huge stars, but we are a well integrated team and we support each other, and I think it showed.”
The team were without Viktor Axelsen, who had announced his retirement last week.
In his absence, world No. 3 Anders Antonsen lived up to expectations by defeating youngster Yoo Tae-bin 11-21, 21-17, 21-15 to give the homesters a 1-0 lead.
South Korea split their world No. 1 pair Kim Won-ho–Seo Seung-jae, but the gamble backfired as the Danes snatched the first doubles point through Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard.
Lundgaard-Vestergaard needed less than an hour to beat Ki Dong-ju–Kim Won-ho 21-18, 23-21.
Johannesen then battled for 73 minutes to overcome Choi Ji-hoon 21-12, 17-21, 21-15 and seal the winning point.
Denmark dropped a point in the second doubles, with Kim Astrup-Mathias Christiansen, going down 17-21, 21-18, 21-23 to Jin Yong–Seo Seung-jae.
In the final match, Holm beat Park Sang-yong 26-24, 21-12 to complete a 4-1 win for the hosts in a tie that lasted for more than four hours.
Denmark will next face Sweden today before taking on Taiwan on Wednesday as they look to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
