We were treated to a daunting spectacle yesterday in the final of the Orleans Masters. Climax of the day, the men’s and women’s singles finals, with very high level badminton and which showed that the Orleans tournament, at a time when we are wondering about the 2024 edition, counts in the badminton world world.
It was the men who first gave chills of pleasure and of the very high level to the spectators present. And if the Palais des Sports were far from being filled to its maximum, the absentees will have been wrong.
We had barely recovered from the first final of the day, a hotly contested mixed doubles, when the two surprising men’s singles finalists, Priyanshu Rajawat (#48) and Magnus Johannesen (#49) entered the arena. Rajawat, more lively, with sharpened reflexes, a feline that catches all the shuttlecocks, managed to break away in the first set. And Johannesen, despite a start where he made the first break, became a spectator of his own final, did not succeed. The Indian widened the gap (13-11, 18-11) and pocketed the first set.
We had already seen Johannessen return to this tournament and no one wanted to bury him. From the stands, the “Let’s go Denmark” became more and more insistent. More and more strong. Johannessen was transforming and finding flaws. At 14-9, we thought he was on the right track but Rajawat inflicted a 7-0 on him which could have put him down (14-16). No ! Johannessen has the resource and if he had already proved it, he was still the extraordinary demonstration. Returning to 17-17, he made the best end of the set to still hope in this Super300 final. The match became wonderfully tense. Rajawat put an end to the supremacy of his opponent, remembering his good memories and broke away (5-0). The Danish did not panic, caught up and even won what became the best point of the match to pick up at 8-7. Rajawat took a little time to get up, he who had given a lot in this endless rally. One could think that he would then give in physically. But no, the feline still jumped, broke away and won the final. STUNNING ! Rajawat was all smiles on the podium, he who gained four places in the ranking anchoring him a little more in the world Top 50. “To be honest, I didn’t think I could win (at the start of the competition) but I gave my best and that was enough. I am very happy,” said the Indian after his victory.
For women, same tension and same finish. We were expecting Carolina Marin. We had Carolina Marin. But where we thought things were going to be easy, they got complicated in the first two sets. The second round even becoming the first set lost by the Spaniard in the tournament. The fault of a Beiwen Zhang (n°16 and ex n°9) who was giving Marin a hard time. And yet the match started quietly for the Iberian who took the lead (6-6, 15-8). But Zhang was present and caused a lot of harm to Marin who stammered his badminton. And it took a treasure of ingenuity and experience to pocket the set (25-23). Zhang was angry and scored an 8-0 to take the lead and never let go (14-2, 21-9). Were we going to witness a thunderclap? No, Marin did everything to use cunning and tactical tricks. She played her score perfectly in a third set dominated by the head and shoulders. The Orleans Super300 was for her and she will now be 4th world. Marin, whose last title dates back to the 2021 Swiss Open, has therefore won his last seven duels against his American opponent. “My main goal for this week was to improve my game and I think I’m on the right track. I have to keep believing in myself. Concluded Carolina Marin
In doubles, for men, Chen Bo Yang et Liu Yi only needed two tournaments to win their first HSBC BWF World Tour title on Sunday at the Masters d’Orléans 2023 .
The young Chinese who made their tour debut at the Thailand Masters in late January before winning the Super 100 Ruichang China Masters three weeks ago dominated the tournament. After starting in qualifying, the world No. 81 pair went all the way, beating the third seeds Muhammad Shohibul Fikri / Bagas Maulana (21-19 21-17) in the final.
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