Barcelona Spain Masters 2020, Day 3 Review: Carolina Marin, Viktor Axelsen ease into quarters

Day 3 of the ongoing BWF World Tour Super 300 Barcelona Spain Masters tournament didn’t produce any great upsets. The two most prominent players in Carolina Marin and Viktor Axelsen found their way into the last eight of their respective categories without much difficulty.

In the case of the local favourite Marin, her match was the last of the day and she didn’t disappoint her fans. Just like the previous round, she required little time to put away her opponent, Netherlands’ Soraya de Visch Eijbergen, 21-8, 21-13. The match lasted less than half-an-hour.

In the quarterfinal, Marin will take on Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan. The latter won her second-round match against USA’s Iris Wang in three hard-fought games, 21-18, 20-22, 21-17.

2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen, on the other hand, faced the mercurial Frenchman Brice Leverdez. But the Dane had no great difficulty as he won in straight games 21-11, 21-15. His next opponent would be his own countryman, Jan O Jorgensen, seeded seventh and who came through after an easy 21-14, 21-9 victory over Russia’s Sergey Sirant.

Axelsen in a file photo

The other prominent Danish player in the mix, Rasmus Gemke, who is seeded fifth also went through to the next round after winning his match, against Brazil’s Ygor Coelho, 21-19, 16-21, 21-13.

Among other prominent results from this division, Malaysia’s Daren Liew won his match against France’s Lucas Corvee 21-16, 22-20. In a minor upset, India’s third-seeded player Kidambi Srikanth was knocked out by his compatriot Ajay Jayaram through a 21-6, 21-17 victory.

In the women’s singles division, all the seeded players in the draw, four in total, made their way into the next round. Third seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand won her match 21-9, 21-11 against Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen.

Busanan’s compatriot Pornpawee Chochuwong, seeded sixth, also won her contest against a local player Paula Molins 21-2, 21-8. India’s Saina Nehwal had little difficulty in putting away Ukraine’s Maria Ulitina 21-10, 21-19. She and Busanan would face off in the most high-profile match of the quarterfinal stage in this division.

In doubles categories, the top seeds in men’s doubles – Li Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei – and mixed doubles – Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jamie of Malaysia – progressed to the next round. However, the second-seeded Malaysian pair in the same category, Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing, crashed out.