Anders Antonsen on Friday moved one step closer to winning Denmark’s biggest badminton tournament for the third time.
The fifth-seeded player from Aarhus won an impressive quarter-final at the Denmark Open against Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan, prevailing in two entertaining sets with scores of 21-17, 21-16.
The 21-year-old Indonesian is a former world junior champion and is currently rising toward the global elite in the senior ranks.
His agility and powerful smashes can pose a major challenge, but Antonsen has hit peak form at this prestigious tournament in Odense.
The crowd favorite drew roars from the arena several times during a thrilling first set, in which the two players chased each other to every corner of the court, trading runs of points.
The young Indonesian appeared to have found a winning formula when he won four consecutive rallies to narrow the gap to 13-14. However, Antonsen regrouped, won the next six exchanges, and earned seven set points at 20-13.
Antonsen’s composure wavered slightly, allowing Farhan to close the gap to 17-20, before the Dane finally clinched the set following another grueling, long rally.
The Dane maintained his momentum into the second set, quickly establishing a 7-2 lead. But Farhan was not finished; whenever Antonsen failed to get enough length on his shots, he was punished by near-vertical smashes.
The Indonesian leveled the score at 9-9, before Antonsen managed to disrupt his rhythm. With the score at 15–12 in the Dane’s favor, Farhan got a shuttlecock in his eye and required medical attention. However, the brief pause did not disrupt Antonsen, who remained focused on reaching the semifinal.
He converted his first match point when Farhan hit the shuttlecock out of bounds. In Saturday’s semifinal, a French opponent awaits; Antonsen will face the second seed, Christo Popov.