Hong Kong Open: Enjoyment Reappears for ‘Danish Daddies’
On the eve of the VICTOR Hong Kong Open 2023 semifinals against Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan, Anders Skaarup Rasmussen playfully billed it the ‘Battle of the Daddies’ in an Instagram story.
· PREM KUMAR
Rasmussen, himself a dad of two, was obviously making a cheeky reference to the Indonesians’ popular nickname, now that his partner Kim Astrup is also a father to a two-month-old son.
The Danes seemed in similar high-spirits during the warm-up and carried that energy onto the court, where they took 51 minutes to complete a 24-22 19-21 21-11 victory over the pair Rasmussen later saluted as “absolute legends of the game”.
That was during the post-match interview, when he revealed how their recent strong showings starting with the European Games gold in June in Tarnow, Poland, have brought back the joy in playing competitive badminton. Since Poland, the world No.9s have also won the Canada Open and finished World Championships silver medallists.