Lamsfuss/Herttrich Win Thriller – Japan Open: Day 3
Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich won an exciting duel against Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek to make the mixed doubles quarterfinals of the DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open 2019 today.
· DEV SUKUMAR
In the women’s doubles, Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong scored a hard-fought win over All England champions Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, 21-19 19-21 21-16.
The match looked evenly placed early in the third, but the Chinese’s level dipped after 8-all. Kim So Yeong had a fabulous game from the deep; her variations of pace and angle caught Chen and Jia off-guard from time to time, helping the Koreans take eight points in a row and give them an adequate cushion to take the match.
But for the very end of the contest, during which the Germans pulled away, the match was on a knife edge. The Germans saved three game points in the first, but were themselves denied in the second, a game in which they had seven match points, only for Tabeling and Piek to equalise every time before taking the match to a decider. It was even at 13-all before Tabeling and Piek’s intensity dipped ever so slightly for Lamsfuss and Herttrich to take advantage, making their first Super 750 quarterfinals with a 26-24 27-29 21-16 result.