“We are desperate to make this chance count,” were the words of Kim Astrup after he and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen booked their tickets to the VICTOR Denmark Open 2024 final following a thrilling 20-22 21-18 21-11 win over Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto.

Into their second final on home soil after the 2021 runners-up finish, they are set to face Olympic silver medallists and top seeds Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang for the crown.

“We really fed off of the crowd being wild and enthusiastic,” added Astrup about the performance against Alfian/Ardianto. “The audience is getting better every year and we enjoy that. We have a lot of respect for Liang and Wang. They are world No.1s for a reason but we’ve beaten them in Denmark before. We hope to do it again.”

Rasmussen was pleased about reaching consecutive finals following their silver at the Arctic Open last week.

“We’ve been at this level for a long period. It’s even better than when we played the 2021 final, which was really special in terms of the timing of the birth of my son just afterwards,” said the 35-year-old.

“We will take it easy in the final. We will take our time, no stress. The crowd is magical, they are loud and wild. It’s special to be in the final.”

Astrup/Rasmussen are hoping to emerge the first Danish men’s doubles champions in 14 years (Mathias Boe/Carsten Morgensen won in 2010). Having also lost in the semis last year, Rasmussen is keen to use their past disappointments at home as fuel this year.

“You have to do everything right against those guys, there’s not one solution. You have to be good in defence, offence and in your serve and return area. It’s about being better overall, which is a difficult task but possible.”

The local crowd will have more than one match to look forward to as another home hope Anders Antonsen made his second Denmark Open final after outmanoeuvring Kenta Nishimoto 21-15 21-14.

The 2020 champion said: “It feels so good, I’m super happy. I feel I’ve been practicing well but I didn’t succeed at the Olympics. The tournaments afterwards came with a lot of stress regarding my tricky situation (of having to terminate the coach’s services). There have been some ‘close but no cigar’ moments in some quarterfinals so it’s amazing to be in a final.

“I’m looking forward to a vacation after the final. I booked a place in the south of Spain for the night of the finals. It looks like I will need to postpone that.”

→ Results (Semifinals)

→ Order of play (Finals)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“I love the Denmark Open. There’s one restaurant I go to to have a big steak with potatoes.” – Huang Dong Ping on making her fourth Danish final and what keeps her energised

“I want to send my best to Gregoria. No player wants to win this way. As for myself, there’s a situation happening in the background which isn’t completely resolved and it affects my concentration on court. For now, I want to focus on the final and do my best.” – An Se Young after Gregoria Mariska Tunjung retired at 20-21 12-12 with a back injury

“We hadn’t gone past the first round before. This is our fourth attempt here and we’ve made it to the final. It’s amazing. I think the practice hall being so close to the venue has made all the difference.” – Wang Chang

“I’ve improved a lot and all the work I’ve done with INCEP has been good. I’m proud of the build-up phase and if I take in the whole picture, it’s been a good year but it’s not over yet.” – Alex Lanier on how far he’s come since starting 2024 playing International Challenges

“Winning means we are improving. We are overwhelmed with happiness that we don’t feel tired. With Kie having my back at the rear court, I was able to go up front and keep a close net game. Let’s say I had the easier task because my partner worked hard.” – Rin Iwanaga after she and Kie Nakanishi collected their first win in seven meetings over Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee in a 95-minute slugfest to enter their maiden Super 750 final