Jayce
After losing in the semi-finals, the Danish world No. 2 duo Astrup/Rasmussen began the bronze medal match against the strong Malaysian pair Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik. They took a comfortable lead in the first set, winning 21:16.
As the match wore on, the Danes found themselves leading for most of the second set, only to fall behind at the mid-set break. After that, they managed to come back and score four bronze medal points, just one point short of an Olympic medal. However, the Malaysian pair managed to win the second set 22-20.
In the third set, the confident Malaysian pair led throughout the decider, although the distraught Danish pair put their best foot forward until the match ended at 19-19. In the end, the Malaysian pair were the calmest under pressure as Kim Astrup’s attempted drop-kick at the end of the last two points went straight into the net.
When the Danish pair won the opening match of the quarter-finals, Anders Skaarup Rasmussen explained with emotion that the quarter-finals was the most important match because it would guarantee them a gold or bronze medal in the last two matches, regardless of whether they lost both games. For them, the game was worth it because of the experience, the crowd and the atmosphere. In the end, they lost both games, and while we were sad not to see the second European after Victor Axelsen win a medal at the Olympics, we agreed with Rasmussen that we thoroughly enjoyed their entire Olympic journey in Paris.
