Yonex Denmark Open 2011 Mixed Doubles Finals: Joachim Fischer/Christinna Pedersen v Xu Cheng/Ma Jin
| Tournament | Yonex Denmark Open 2011 Finals (Super Series Premier) |
| Location | Odense, Denmark |
| Date of Match | 23 October 2011 |
| Category | Mixed Doubles |
The mixed doubles finals of the Yonex Denmark Open 2011 featured local Danish pair Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen against the world no.2 mixed doubles pair from China, Xu Cheng and Ma Jin.
A day before this match, the Danes defeated the world no.1, Zhang Nan and Zhao Yun Lei.
This earned them a spot in this finals and gave them a chance to win the Denmark Open for the 3rd time!
Joachim and Christinna’s confidence soared after defeating the world no.1 pair in the semi finals.
On top of that, there was a home soil advantage for the Danes.
The crowd played a HUGE part in this OSIM BWF World Super Series PREMIER event.
The fans in the tournament were definitely there to support their home favourite, Joachim and Christinna.
This was the third encounter between these 2 pairs. In the previous 2 encounters, Joachim and Christinna lost to Xu Cheng and Ma Jin.
I personally love this badminton match. The finals was much more interesting to watch than the semi finals.
Xu Cheng and Ma Jin put up a really good fight at the start. Both teams fought well and were very alert defensively. Rallies could not be won easily.
Similar to semi finals, the Danes played a very tactical game.
Smart Play from the Danes
The strength of Xu Cheng and Ma Jin lies on Xu Cheng’s ability to produce powerful smashes. Ma Jin is extremely good and alert along the net, possibly the best player to handle net plays in badminton.
The Chinese always have Xu Cheng at the back and Ma Jin at the front.
The Danes were very smart to force Xu Cheng to the front and Ma Jin to the back.
It is obvious that Xu Cheng does not have good badminton skills along the net. Ma Jin was relatively slow in moving around the back of the court.
Try counting how many flick serves the Danes used against Ma Jin to force her to the back.
Xu Cheng has a very great smash. Again, the Danes were very smart to prevent him from producing those powerful smashes.
Joachim and Christinna’s strategies were extremely impressive and showed how much they planned before the match to win this tournament.
Unorthodox Strategy
In terms of the Danish pair’s formation, Joachim was happy to break the traditional rule in mixed doubles where women stay in front while men stay behind.
Joachim was happy to move forward and put pressure along the net whenever he sees the opportunity, leaving Christinna behind to cover the rear court. You won’t see this often in mixed doubles!
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