Odense: The 16th career meeting between World No. 6 Carolina Marin and World No. 4 Nozomi Okuhara has come true, generating big anticipation among badminton fans worldwide and creating the perfect climax to the Denmark Open final on Sunday.
The No. 2 seed Marin overpowered Yvonne Li of Germany 21-17, 21-11 in the semi-final in just 34 minutes.
“I started to get my feeling back on the court. I was following my game plan, even though I made some mistakes in the second set,” said Marin.
Despite her dominance in European badminton, Marin has never won the Denmark Open. She will take on No. 2 seed Nozomi Okuhara on Sunday.
Another women’s singles semi-final saw Okuhara squeezed through with a 21-10, 21-7 win against 4th-seeded Michelle Li of Canada.
In women’s doubles, as predicted by Japan’s badminton head coach, Park Joo Bong last Sunday, Japan would be able to bring home the 2020 Denmark Open women’s doubles crown. In the all-Japanese women’s doubles final, No. 1 seeds Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota will battle No. 2 seeds Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara for the Denmark Open title.
Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota defeated Denmark pair Christine Busch/Amalie Schulz 21-18, 21-6 in the semi-final while Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria 21-17, 21-8 on Saturday.
