The dream of a new Danish world champion in badminton is alive and well after Anders Antonsen made it to the semifinals in Paris on Friday evening after a two-set victory (21-17, 23-21) over Tien Chen Chou from Taiwan.
In the first set, Antonsen was in trouble, but gradually dug his way back into the set, which he ended up winning by dragging out the duels and wearing his opponent down. This did not suit the 35-year-old Chou, whose endurance has seen better days.
In the second set, the Taiwanese then chose to delay each point, which visibly got on Antonsen's nerves more and more, which is why the Dane fell behind 18-12 as he complained about Chou's sneaky tactics to the referee.
But the 28-year-old Dane turned the frustrations in his own favour to find the energy for launching an amazing comeback.
Antonsen fought back with a few quick points, and in a quite dramatic second set, he levelled the score at 20-20.
Antonsen continued the tactics that worked so well in the first to wear down the Taiwanese and was able to close out the match when he converted his second match point as Chou made a big mistake on the decisive point.
This means Anders Antonsen is in a World Cup semi-final for the fourth time in his career.