Jayce
The 2024 VICTOR China Open has kicked off, and the first-round matches were fiercely contested.
French player Christo Popov fought hard in an intense match against Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei, dragging the game into three sets but ultimately losing with a score of 14-21, 21-12, 19-21. Both Christo and his brother Toma Junior Popov also exited early in the men’s doubles event.
Other European players, such as Mia Blichfeldt from Denmark and the Ukrainian pair Oleksii Titov and Yevheniia Kantemyr, also saw their Super 1000 campaigns end prematurely.
Thankfully, there were some uplifting victories during the day. Danish player Line Højmark Kjærsfeldt, who had a strong run in last week’s Hong Kong quarterfinals, opened her China campaign with a comfortable win.
In the doubles events, European players secured a few wins; England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy battled through three sets to defeat Malaysia’s Low Hang Yee and Ng Eng Cheong 18-21, 21-19, 21-15. Likewise, Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch, as well as 8th seeds Rasmus Kjær and Frederik Søgaard, secured victories alongside Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr.
