As most of you should know by now, I won the final of Victor Dutch International yesterday. I beat Wu Yunyong of China i straight sets, 21-12 21-18. It was probably my best match of the tournament, but that was also needed to beat this guy. He is a former semi-finalist at Indonesia Open and was the defending champion at the Dutch International, so obviously a very good player.
In the final I got off to a poor start, quickly trailing 5-1. I let him control the game and he didn't seem interested in giving me any chances to attack. I knew I would have to get the attack if I was to win, so I began to play more aggressively at the net, trying to force him to give me some high lifts I could attack on. This proved to be the right way to play him as I won 14 of the next 15 points! That handed me a 9 point lead which I managed to hold on to all the way through the set to win it 21-12. Playing this kind of game did cost me a lot of energy and as I was already feeling very sore in my legs from the previous days hard work, I was unsure if I could maintain the pace in the second set. I wanted to give it a go, but he seemed to be more aware of my tactics now and didn't let me control the game at the net. We traded point for point up until 8-8, then my coach asked me if I had the power and energy to start playing even more aggressively. I was breathing heavily and felt really bad in my legs, but I convinced myself I simply HAD to do as my coach said to win this match. Again it worked wonders for me and I won the next 6 points in a row! Up 16-10 I didn't think there was much work left to clinch the titel, but my opponent had different ideas and again took up the fight at the net. It made me nervous and I just gave away the lifts way to easily, not knowing how to react to his fight back. He levelled it again at 16-all. I could'nt believe I let him back into the game like that, but it made me even more eager to finish it off as I refused to lose like this... It made me forget about how tired I felt and all of a sudden I was able to play offensively again. I managed to stay calm for the last few points to take the right chances and clinch the tournament-victory 21-12 21-18.
This victory is very important to me! It tells me I'm now back at the level I had before getting injured in my knee. It also proves to the national coahces that I'm still here and they can count on me for the future. It's a great way to bounce back after the dissapointment of not going to the Europeans and the Thomas Cup finals. To be honest, I couldn't imagine a better way!
I'm off to have lunch with Rasmus Bonde and Kasper Henriksen. They came second in mens doubles, while Rasmus won the mixed double title. So we all have something to celebrate!
Thanks for reading,
HK
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