Nedelcheva completes Bulgarian double
13 October 2008
Bulgaria’s star in women’s singles, Petya Nedelcheva won the Bulgarian Grand Prix title adding to the Bulgarian International Championships she won last weekend. Nedelcheva defeated Pungkasari of Indonesia in the final. Joachim Persson of Denmark took the long route to victory in winning the men’s singles title. Denmark also enjoyed success in men’s doubles through Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen.
Petya Nedelcheva, Bulgaria’s leading badminton player delighted the home supporters by winning her second title in consecutive weeks on home soil. Nedelcheva rarely looked troubled at any stage. She beat Aditi Mutatkar of India in the semi finals before beating Indonesian Rosaria Yusfin Pungkasari in the final 21/14, 21/12.
Joachim Persson of Denmark was the number one seed in the men’s singles event but didn’t make it very easy on himself. Four out of six matches went to the full 3 sets. In the semi finals he defeated Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia, then in the final he beat fourth seed Hsieh Yu Hsin of Chinese Taipei 17/21, 21/19, 21/19.
Persson is enhancing his reputation as a leading European force and may soon over take his compatriot Peter Gade in the world ranking, plus secure himself a place in the world’s top 10. With this victory awarding him 5000 points, it gives him an extra 1400 points in the world ranking and therefore only 854 points behind Gade. These figures will be shown in the next edition of the BWF world ranking.
Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark were the top seeds in the tournament and looked like the favourites in each of their matches. An entertaining first set saw them overcome their Indonesian opponents Fran Kurniawan and Wijaya Rendra 25/23. The second set was more comfortable as the Danes won 21/16 to take the title.
Jwala Gutta of India and Shendy Puspa Irawati of Indonesia contested two finals against each other in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles events. On both occasions Gutta defeated Irawati. In the women’s doubles Gutta and Shruti Kurian beat Irawati and Meiliana Jauhari. The mixed doubles final also saw India toppling Indonesia through Diju V and Gutta beating Fran Kurniawan and Irawati. It was a disappointing day for the Indonesian doubles specialists, losing all three finals, adding to the disappointment of losing in the women’s singles final.
Fonte : Site Badminton Europa
