Denmark's badminton men's national team is ready for the semi-finals at the Thomas Cup at home in Horsens.
On Friday evening, the Danes beat Thailand in the quarter-final 3-1 and are thus ready for a semi-final at the Team World Championships against the tournament favorites from China.
The doubles pair with Mathias Christiansen and Daniel Lundgaard, who normally do not play together, secured the final win against Chaloempon Charoenkitamorn and Worrapol Thongsa-Nga.
The semi-final place means that the Danes are certain of winning medals, as there is no bronze medal match.
At the Thomas Cup in 2024, Denmark failed to win a medal. Before that, Denmark won bronze three successive times after the great triumph in 2016, where they went all the way to claim the trophy.
Before Christiansen and Lundgaard's victory, singles player Anders Antonsen and the doubles team with Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup had obtained the first two victories in the match against Thailand on Friday evening.
Antonsen started the day by beating the World No. two, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, in a tough match in three sets, 21-16, 11-21, 21-18.
In the third set decider, both players seemed to have run out of energy, but Antonsen fought his way to four match points.
On the first two, Antonsen's fatigue was very evident, but on the third opportunity, Antonsen ensured the win with a sharply angled forehand to great cheers from the crowd.
Astrup and Skaarup then elegantly followed up with a victory of 15-21, 21-5, 21-17 over Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul.
From 17-17 in the third set, the two Danes won the next four successive points and secured a 2-0 lead for the hosts.
Thus, Magnus Johannesen could already decide the match in the third game, but despite putting up a good fight against Pakkapon Teeraratsakul, the Thai prevailed 21-17, 21-12.
In the fourth match, the unusual doubles pair of Christiansen and Lundgaard got off to a fine start in the first set.
The Danes played especially well in defense but also gave evidence of creative attacking play.
That style continued in the second set, where the Dane was constantly a step or two ahead and Mathias Christiansen converted the second match point in favour of the host nation.