Denmark’s Mathias Bay-Smidt and Rikke Soby pulled off the biggest surprise of the Yonex Swiss Open 2019, claiming their first title as a pair.

The Danes, ranked No.102, capped a stunning week beating Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari in the mixed doubles final, 21-18 12-21 21-16.

Earlier in the week, Bay-Smidt and Soby had survived two tense matches. In the second round, they held off six match points to beat Bulgaria’s Alex Vlaar/Mariya Mitsova (17-21 21-19 27-25), while in the semifinals, they got the better of fifth seeds Lu Kai/Chen Lu 20-22 21-19 23-21.

Interestingly enough, Bay-Smidt and Soby had started their partnership last year at this event, where they fell in the first round.

Shi, Chen Triumph

China’s Shi Yuqi and Chen Yufei justified their top seeding at the Swiss Open, claiming the singles titles.

Shi was stretched to three games by India’s Sai Praneeth in the men’s singles final, 19-21 21-18 21-12, while Chen had it easier in the women’s singles final against Japan’s Saena Kawakami, 21-9 21-16.

Shi’s path to the title was anything but smooth. He was taken the distance in his opening match, by Russia’s Vladimir Malkov, and in the second round by Brazil’s Ygor Coelho. But he then eased past Dutchman Mark Caljouw and Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting in straight games before thwarting Sai Praneeth’s challenge in the final.

In the other half, Sai Praneeth scored a surprisingly one-sided win over second seed Chen Long, 21-18 21-13.

Chen Yufei followed up on her maiden All England victory by breezing through to the title in Basel. Apart from the second round against Estonia’s Kristin Kuuba, in which she lost a game, Chen won all her matches in straight games.

In the semifinals, Chen overcame Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun, while Kawakami held off USA’s Beiwen Zhang.

Ardianto/Alfian on Top

Indonesia’s Muhammad Rian Ardianto/Fajar Alfian, who lost a thrilling semifinal at the All England, proved too strong for Chinese’s Taipei’s Wang Chi-Lin/Lee Yang in the men’s doubles final, 21-19 21-16.

Wang/Lee had earlier survived a close semifinal, against Korea’s Lee Yong Dae/Kim Gi Jung, 22-20 13-21 22-20.

Korea’s Chang Ye Na/Jung Kyung Eun won their first title since the Gwangju Korea Masters, beating Japan’s Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida in the women’s doubles final, 21-16 21-13.

The big surprise in women’s doubles was the upset of All England champions Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan at the hands of their younger compatriots Li Wenmei/Zheng Yu in the quarterfinals, 18-21 21-14 21-14.