Danish deligh: Denmark's Anders Antonsen reacts after winning against Japan's Koki Watanabe during the men's singles final at the Denmark Open in Odense. - AFP
ODENSE: Lanky Anders Antonsen lifted the second Denmark Open men's singles title but this one was more meaningful.
On Sunday, a determined Antonsen beat spirited Koki Watanabe of Japan 21-15, 21-16 in the final at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense to the delight of his adoring home fans.
It was his second home title following the success at 2020, where the tournament then went on during the Covid-19 outbreak under strict guidelines without fans and with many skipping the meet.
"The draw wasn’t as strong because of Covid-19. The crowd and having my brother coaching me makes it very special," said the 27-year-old Antonsen.
Antonsen has been training under his brother Kasper after some changes took place following his last eight defeat at the Paris Olympic Games.
"There’s nothing better than winning titles like this. It doesn’t get much bigger," he said.
"I’m happy to move on from the Olympics, and all the other things I’ve been through."
Japan still went home with one title though Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi of Japan in the women's doubles but the day belonged to China as they swept the women's singles (Wang Zhiyi), men's doubles (Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang) and mixed doubles (Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping).
FINAL RESULTS
Men's singles: Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16
Men's doubles: Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) 21-18, 21-17
Women's singles: Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt An Se-young (Kor) 21-10, 21-12.
Women's doubles: Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) 21-18, 21-14.
Mixed doubles:Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) 15-21, 21-18, 21-17.
