Gopichand, Gade to clash in Copenhagen Masters

Indian badminton ace Pulella Gopichand will look to end the year on a winning note at the Copenhagen Masters 2001, which got under way on Thursday, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The All-England champion is placed in Group 2 along with Luo Yigang of China and defending champion Peter Gade of Denmark.

His first match on Friday, against Yigang, should be a formality, going by the rankings, as the Indian is ranked ninth in the world compared to Yigang's ranking of 122.

However, Gopichand's real test will be later in the evening, when he takes on Gade in his second match.

Gopichand had defeated Gade at the All-England championships, the last time the two clashed, and the Dane will surely looking to avenge the defeat, his first against the Indian.

Gade had a rather easy time in his opening match, the only from Group 2, on Thursday, when he defeated Luo Yigang of China 8-7, 7-5, 7-0.

Gade, who is making a comeback after five months following a knee-injury, had a scrappy start. He was nervous in the first set and made a few mistakes, but as the match went along, he found his touch to register a straight win.

Group 1 comprises Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia, Hendrawan of Indonesia and Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen.

The players will play a round-robin and the winner of the group will clash for the title.

On Thursday, World champion Hendrawan lost both his matches in Group 1. First he lost to the Danish No. 2 Kenneth Jonassen 0-7, 7-4, 5-7, 2-7 while later in the day, he went down in staright games to Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia 3-7, 3-7, 4-7.

Hendrawan, who has been spending a lot of time with his family and a newborn child lately, was not in the best shape in both the matches.

The final will be played on December 29.

In the women's singles Group-2 matches, Camilla Martin of Denmark defeated Cindana Hartono of Indonesia 7-1, 7-1, 7-2, while Pi Hong Yan of China defeated Cindana Hartono of Indonesia 7-0, 7-2, 7-1.

Mette Sørensen of Denmark defeated Judith Meulendijks of The Nettherlands 3-7, 7-3, 7-4, 5-7, 7-0 in the only match of Group-1.

The men's doubles is having the experimental 5x9 scoring system for the first time.

In Group-1 matches, the Indonesian pair of Sigit Budiarto/Candra Wijaya defeated Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson of England 9-6, 9-1, 9-3, while Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark defeated Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson of England 7-9, 9-3, 5-9, 9-6, 9-2.

The Danish pair of Jesper Larsen/Jim Laugesen defeated Chow Choon Eng/Chan Choong Ming of Malaysia 6-9, 9-2, 7-9, 9-6, 9-7 in a Group-2 match.