After a week of stellar performances, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen earned a well-deserved silver medal at the CLASH ROYALE Arctic Open 2024, powered by YONEX.
As the last European representatives in the tournament, the Danish pair faced Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin from Malaysia in a gripping final. The Malaysians had an impressive run, knocking out both fourth seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto, as well as top seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang to secure their spot in the final.
Astrup and Rasmussen got off to a strong start, winning the first game, but Goh and Nur bounced back, finding their form to take the final in three thrilling games (15-21, 21-15, 21-19).
Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen secured their place in the final of the CLASH ROYALE Arctic Open 2024, powered by YONEX, with a solid victory over Thailand’s Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh (21-14, 21-19).
After the match, Astrup expressed his contentment with their performance: “It was a tough match, but we maintained a high level throughout, and it paid off.”
A standout moment occurred when Rasmussen had to switch rackets mid-rally after breaking a string — something he had never done before. “It was a first for me, but it worked out, and we even won the point,” he shared.
As they look ahead to the final against Goh Sze Feiand Nur Izzuddin, Rasmussen acknowledged their opponents’ strengths while remaining confident: “They’re a strong team, physically and tactically. It’ll be a challenge, but we just need to step up our game once more.”
The Round of 16 at the CLASH ROYALE Arctic Open 2024, powered by YONEX, proved difficult for most European players, with only two doubles pairs and one singles player advancing to the quarterfinals.
Despite the tough day, exciting matchups are set for tomorrow.
Alex Lanier of France faced Nhat Nguyen from Ireland in the only all-European clash of the day. After a tight 24-22 first game, Lanier dominated the second with a 21-9 victory. He will now challenge Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei, whom he previously defeated at the Japan Open.
In men’s doubles, Danish pair Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen battled Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, winning a three-game thriller 21-13, 13-21, 21-9.
The English duo of Ben Lane/Sean Vendy also secured their spot in the quarterfinals after a commanding 21-13, 21-8 victory over Malaysia’s third seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik.
The dynamic Malaysian duo broke new ground by defeating top seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of the CLASH ROYALE Arctic Open 2024 for the first time in four encounters on Saturday. Their thrilling comeback victory, with scores of 19-21, 21-17, 21-18, has propelled them into their third final in just five tournaments.
“We prepared thoroughly and didn’t focus on the outcome. Our priority was to perform our best, which proved to be crucial. We maintained our composure and enjoyed the match,” stated Goh after the game.
Today’s clash against defending champions Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen at the Energia Arena marks the fourth final for the world No. 8s this season. Now competing independently, they have already celebrated victories at the Japan Open and China Open, claiming their first Super 750 and Super 1000 titles, respectively.
“Since reuniting, we’ve greatly enhanced our communication, which has been beneficial for our performance,” said Izzuddin. “While we’re pleased with our play, there’s still work to be done. We need to stay focused for this next challenge.”
Second seeds Astrup and Rasmussen advanced to the final by defeating qualifiers Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh with a score of 21-14, 21-19 in a later match. Despite their strong 6-1 record, the world No. 2 Danes are cautious about their final opponents.
“You can’t depend on just one strategy; it’s essential to be strong all over the court to defeat them. We need to elevate our game one more time to secure a chance,” remarked Rasmussen.
This final marks the first Super 500 for Goh and Izzuddin. They are currently the only Malaysian players or pairs to have secured titles at all three levels (1000, 750, and 300) of the HSBC BWF World Tour.
Ambitious men’s doubles players Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin credit their strong performance this year to their growing trust in each other.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin have been in excellent form recently, clinching their third title in two months at the Arctic Open on Sunday.
The world No. 8 independent pair fought hard to defeat Indonesia’s world No. 6 pair, Fajar Alfian / Rian Ardianto, China’s world No. 1 duo, Liang Weikeng / Wang Chang, and Denmark’s defending champions, Kim Astrup / Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (world No. 2), to claim the title.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin also won the Japan and China Open titles last month, and if they can maintain their hot streak, they will soon surpass the country’s No. 1 and world No. 4 pair, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, in the rankings.
Sze Fei stated that mutual trust is the key to their success so far, and they are eager to continue their winning ways.
“The key is to trust each other and keep moving forward, keep working hard,” Sze Fei told SPOTV after the match.
“We’ll keep doing what we’ve done over the past few weeks, which is giving our best in every match. There were many tense moments during the games, and it’s crucial that we never lose faith in each other.”
Sze Fei-Izzuddin have no time to celebrate yet, as they are set to compete in the Denmark Open, which begins today in Odense.
Izzuddin knows that maintaining their form in Denmark after a grueling week will be a tough task.
“From the quarterfinals (Arctic Open) onwards, our matches have been difficult. We need to be mentally and physically prepared,” Izzuddin said.
“It’s been a tiring week for us, and we need to get ready for Denmark once again.”
In their first-round match in Odense, Sze Fei-Izzuddin will face Taiwan’s world No. 10 pair, Lee Jhe-Huei / Yang Po-Hsuan, in what will be a challenging test.
If they win, they will likely face Denmark’s world No. 14 pair, Rasmus Kjær / Frederik Søgaard, for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Goh Tze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani triumphed at the 2024 Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland, becoming one of the rare men’s doubles pairs to complete the BWF World Tour Series.
This accomplishment marks victories across the BWF World Tour Super 300, 500, 750, and 1000 tournaments—a feat that not all top men’s doubles pairs have achieved.
In the Arctic Open (Super 500) final, they defeated top seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen from Denmark, matching the record set by Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Rian Ardianto.
The Malaysian pair has already won the 2022 German Open (Super 300), 2023 US Open (Super 300), 2024 Japan Open (Super 750), and 2024 China Open (Super 1000).
In the 2024 Arctic Open final at Vantaa Energia Arena, Fei-Din overcame a 15-21 first game loss to beat the Danish pair 21-15, 21-19.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s hopes for a second title at the Arctic Open were dashed when Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah failed to defeat top seeds Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning from China.
The Chinese duo, who had already claimed titles at the Malaysia Open, Indonesia Masters, and Japan Open earlier this year, displayed great composure in the final, winning 21-12 and 21-17 in just under an hour.
China secured a second title in the mixed doubles event with another victory by top seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping.
Ranked No. 3 in the world, Feng/Huang had to battle hard for their victory against fellow Chinese pair Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin, with the intense match lasting over an hour.
Feng/Huang won the first game 21-18 but suffered a 6-21 loss in the second. However, they bounced back to take the third game 21-15, securing the title in front of the Finnish crowd.
Later, second seed Han Yue defeated Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the women’s singles final, giving China a third title in Finland.
The defending champion easily won 21-10, 21-13, claiming her title defense in just 39 minutes.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s All England champion Jonatan Christie fell short in the men’s singles final against Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei, ending his hopes of another BWF World Tour title.
Seventh seed Chou defeated fifth seed Jonatan 21-18, 21-17, securing his second BWF World Tour title of the year.
The opening two days of the 2024 LI-NING Hong Kong Open have been full of ups and downs for European badminton players.
Day one saw an unexpected early exit from top-seeded pair Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. On the second day, European athletes experienced a similar blend of successes and setbacks.
While Christo Popov, Line Højmark Kjærsfeldt, Rasmus Gemke, Mads Vestergaard/Christine Busch, and Viktor Axelsen progressed to the Round of 16, notable players like Toma Junior Popov and Mia Blichfeldt were knocked out of the competition.
Unseeded duo Huang Di and Zhou Hao Dong, playing in only their second tournament together, delivered the most surprising result on Day 1 of the LI-NING Hong Kong Open 2024.
After making it through the qualifiers, the Chinese pair—who were eliminated in the first round of their debut at the Korea Open two weeks ago—shocked top-seeded men’s doubles champions Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen with their fast and aggressive style, winning 21-15, 25-23.
The second game was particularly tense, with both sides exchanging slim leads from 18-all, but Huang and Zhou stayed composed to secure the victory.
Zhou, who had previously partnered with He Ji Ting for two years before teaming up with Tan Qiang at the end of last year, credited their speed as the decisive factor in defeating the world No. 2 pair.
“Our speed gave us the edge,” said Zhou, 26, from Ningbo. “Playing fast is our strength, and we showcased it today.
“Kim and Anders, being top players, had more pressure to deliver a result. For us, the goal was to stay aggressive and push ourselves to beat the best.
“We’re thrilled with this win, but our focus now shifts to preparing for the next round.”
Huang and Zhou will next face Lin Bing Wei and Su Ching Heng from Chinese Taipei.
Elsewhere, Danish men’s doubles teams faced more disappointment. Shortly after, Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard fell 21-14, 21-17 to Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Daniel Marthin.
Denmark’s hopes in men’s doubles ended later in the day, when sixth seeds Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard lost a tight match, 15-21, 23-21, 19-21, to Nur Mohd Azryn and Tan Wee Kiong.
Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (February 15, 1989) is a Danish male badminton player.
In April 2010, Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and Anne Skilbeck played in the Netherlands Badminton International and won their first International Challenge Mixed Doubles title by defeating their teammates’ Christian Johan Skovgård/Julie Hohmann 2-0 (21-17, 21-12) in the mixed doubles final.
In 2013, Anders Skorup teamed up with Lina Grebach to win back-to-back mixed doubles titles at the Finnish Open, Danish International and Spanish Open. In April of the same period, he played in the Portugal Badminton International with Kim Astrup Sørensen and Lina Grebak respectively, and won the Men’s Doubles International title by defeating the tournament’s No. 2 seed and England’s strongest team of Peter Briggs/Harley Towler 2-0 (21-18, 21-14) in the Men’s Doubles final.
In February 2015, Anders Skorup represented Denmark at the Badminton Europe Mixed Team Championships in Leuven, Belgium, helping his team win the Mixed Team title.
In February 2016, Anders Skorup represented Denmark at the European Men’s Badminton Team Championships in Kazan, Russia, helping his team win the men’s team title. In March of the same year, he and Kim Astrup competed in the Swiss Badminton Golden Grand Prix, winning his first international Golden Grand Prix men’s doubles title by defeating the tournament’s No. 4 seed and Chinese Taipei powerhouse Lee Seung-mu/Tsai Chia-hsin 2-0 (21-8, 21-15) in the men’s doubles final. In May of the same year, he was selected as the main men’s doubles starter for the Thomas Cup, helping Denmark to win their first men’s team title in all three major team events in badminton, and was the moment he became the new World Champion.
In April 2018, Anders Skorup represented Denmark at the Badminton Europe Championships in Huelva, Spain, winning the men’s doubles title at the European Championships by withdrawing from the men’s doubles final due to his opponent.
In the men’s doubles final of the 2018 China Open Badminton Championships, the Danish duo of Astrup Sørensen/Anders Skorup won the China Open men’s doubles title by defeating the Chinese duo of Han Chengkai/Zhou Hao Dong 2-1.
Copenhagen World Championships in August 2023, the home game Astrup/Anders state of the brave all the way to the final, but finally to 21-14, 15-21, 17-21 not lower than South Korea’s Kang Min-hyuk/Seo Seung-jae to get the runner-up, the record since the World Championships to participate in the best results.
Lee Yang of Chinese Taipei concluded his career with an emphatic statement: an Olympic gold medal.
Lee and Wang Chi-lin made history by becoming the first pair to win the men’s doubles title twice, following a gripping 21-17, 18-21, 21-19 victory over Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of the People’s Republic of China at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Sunday, 4 August.
The Tokyo 2020 champions also secured the first gold medal for their country in this edition of the Games. After the match, Lee announced it was the final match of his career.
“This is my last time, which is why I kissed the court to bid a proper farewell,” said Lee, who will turn 29 in eight days. “I will go to school to become an instructor and hopefully I can help develop the game of badminton.”
The Malaysian pair, Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh, defeated Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to claim their second successive bronze medal.
The match lasted 76 minutes and had the Porte de la Chapelle Arena rocking. The contest was so close that a third game seemed almost certain from the start. The biggest lead in the entire match was a mere four points by the winners in the decisive set.
Wang Chang remarked that it was arguably the toughest match he and his partner had played in recent memory.
“The difference in the third game was two points,” Wang said. “I think it was one of the most intense matches we have played recently.”
Lee acknowledged that the three-year journey from Tokyo to back-to-back titles was a challenging one, marked by some criticism in their homeland.
However, he noted that they used the criticism as motivation to become the first men from Chinese Taipei to win multiple Olympic gold medals in any sport.
“When we won in Tokyo, not many people knew us. Now people recognize us,” Lee said. “We did not play well last year. We heard some people say that we were not good enough to represent our country.
“But despite being drawn into the toughest group, we still came away with a gold medal.”
Wang Chi-lin added: “We did experience a lot of ups and downs, but we managed to find a way to win. After the draw, we knew every match would be difficult.
“We grew amid all the negative comments. Our efforts were totally worth it.”
The badminton competition concludes on Monday with the two singles finals.
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.
Today is the fifth day of the Olympic badminton competition, and it is a special day.
Many European singles players (and Kim Astrup/Anders Rasmussen) will face world-class top seeds who are the only hope for European players to advance to the last 16.
In some ways, this match may already be a knockout stage match for the European players, as a win would send them through to the next round, while a loss would mean a farewell to Paris.
Here’s a look at the daunting challenges that await the European players:
Session 1 Starts at 8.30 AM CEST
Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND) vs Kristin Kuuba (EST) – Winner wins group M
Misha Zilberman (ISR) vs Prince Dahal (NEP) – Winner will NOT go through
Viktor Axelsen [2] (DEN) vs Nhat Nguyen (IRL) – Winner wins Group P
Kalle Koljonen (FIN) vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn [8] (THA) – Winner wins Group C
Shi Yu Qi [1] (CHN) vs Giovanni Toti (ITA) – Winner wins Group A
Kim Astrup / Anders Skaarup Rasmussen [2] (DEN) vs Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi (JAP) If Astrup/ Rasmussen win, they will go through to the next round; however if they lose, they could still go through if Liu Yu Chen/ Ou Xuan Yi (CHN) win their match against Lee Yang/ Wang Chi-lin (TPE) going on at the same time
Session 2 Starts at 2.00 PM CEST Carolina Marin [4] (ESP) vs Rachael Darragh (IRL) – If Darragh wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group L since everyone has one win and one loss. If Marin wins she wins Group L
Lee Zii Jia [7] (MAS) vs Pablo Abian (ESP) – Winner wins Group G
Gregoria Mariska Tunjung [7] (INA) vs Tereza Švábíková (CZE) – If Švábíková wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group G since everyone has one win and one loss. If Tunjung wins, she wins Group G
Anders Antonsen [4] (DEN) vs Ade Resky Dwicahyo (AZE) – Winner wins Group E
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting [9] (INA) vs Toma Junior Popov (FRA) – Winner wins group H
Session 3 Starts at 7.30 PM CEST An Se Young [1] (KOR) vs Qi Xuefei (FRA) – If Qi Xuefei wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group A since everyone has one win and one loss. If An Se Young wins, she wins Group L
Chen Yu Fei [2] (CHN) vs Mia Blichfeldt (DEN) – Winner wins Group P
As we can see, the fate of the European team largely depends on whether they can beat the top players such as Shi Yuqi, An Sai Yong, Chen Yufei, Jin Ting and Li Zijia. This will be an extremely serious challenge. At Badminton Europe, we are honoured to serve these outstanding badminton players and to see our players challenged by the world’s best on the biggest stage. We can’t wait to see how the day unfolds.
