Orleans: At first sight, the unseeded Shiori Saito of Japan seemed not in the same level as the No. 2 seed Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark in the Orleans Masters women’s singles final.
But, once Saito stepped on the court, the World No. 63 was as powerful as ever, where her smashes and net shots were ferociously difficult to handle, breaking the World No. 25 Dane 21-18, 21-14 in 39 minutes to clinch the Orleans Masters title.
The victory was also a sweet revenge for Saito after her loss to Blichfeldt at the 2017 Japan Open, going down 19-21, 19-21.
In men’s doubles, Shia Chun Kang/Tan Wee Gieen of Malaysia couldn’t reproduce the form that landed them in the final, defeated by No. 3 seeds Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Emil Seidel of Germany 10-21, 18-21 in just 35 minutes.
Despite losing in the women’s singles final, the Denmark camp at least had something to celebrate on Sunday as Niclas Nohr and Sara Thygesen stood tall on the podium when they defeated Peter Kasbauer and Olga Konon of Germany 21-19, 21-9 in the mixed doubles final.
Nevertheless, Denmark’s No. 3 seed Rasmus Gemke couldn’t add more joy to the Denmark camp when he lost to Mark Caljouw of Netherlands 21-10, 18-21, 8-21 in the men’s singles final.
