The final Super 1000 event of the season—the 2024 China Open—is underway. Let’s take a look at some of the past data from this tournament!
There are a total of 10 former champions competing in this year’s event.
One of them is Lee So-hee, who, alongside former partner Chang Ye-na, is one of only two non-Chinese pairs to have won the women’s doubles title in the past 32 years. The other pair is Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi.
Among the players participating in this year’s tournament, only Lee So-hee and the men’s doubles pair Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang have previously won the title as top seeds.
In 1995, the duo Huang Zhanzhong and Jiang Xin successfully defended their men’s doubles title. This year, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang hope to follow in their footsteps and defend their title.
Men’s doubles is also the event where China has the fewest number of titles, with Indonesia holding the advantage in this category.
Men’s singles top seed Shi Yuqi is eager to make it to the finals; his best performance so far has been reaching the semifinals.
China is experiencing a title drought in the women’s singles category, with the last champion being Li Xuerui in 2015. Wang Zhiyi and Han Yue are strong contenders to break that streak this year.
If Viktor Axelsen wins this year, he will become the first European men’s singles player to defend the title.
Five teams have earned seed spots in events they have never won before—Thailand (men’s singles), Indonesia (women’s singles), Chinese Taipei (women’s singles and men’s doubles), Malaysia (women’s doubles), and Hong Kong (mixed doubles).
Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong defied the odds to capture the Women’s Doubles title at the Korea Open 2024, held at the Mokpo Indoor Stadium in Seoul. The sixth-seeded pair, who have risen from a world No. 3 ranking in 2022 to their current No. 20 spot, delivered a stellar performance in front of their home crowd.
In the final, Na-eun and Hye-jeong faced off against the fourth-seeded Malaysian duo, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah. Despite Tan and Thinaah’s impressive run, which included a semifinal victory over the top-seeded Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee, they struggled in the final. Jeong and Kim clinched victory with a decisive 12-21, 11-21 scoreline, marking their second Korea Open title and their fourth BWF World Tour win.
Korea’s Mixed Results in Other Categories
Korea’s success continued with a Women’s Singles title, though it came via a walkover. Seventh-seeded Kim Ga-eun did not need to break a sweat as second-seeded Wang Zhi Yi from China withdrew, awarding Kim the title without a match.
However, Korea’s bid for a third title fell short in the Men’s Doubles. Top-seeded Kang Min-yuk and Seo Seung-jae were outplayed by Indonesia’s seventh-seeded duo, Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana. Despite losing the first set 8-21, Carnando and Maulana mounted a remarkable comeback to win the next two sets 21-9, 21-8, securing their first BWF World Tour title of the year.
Malaysian Victory in Mixed Doubles
In the Mixed Doubles final, Malaysian pair Chen Tang Jie and To Ee Wei held their ground against unranked opponents Guo Xin Wa and Li Qian from China. The fourth-seeded Malaysians displayed remarkable composure in a grueling match that lasted nearly an hour. They emerged victorious with a 17-21, 21-13, 21-13 win, marking their first BWF World Tour title of the year and their third overall.
China Secures Men’s Singles Title
Despite the mixed results, China claimed a title at the Korea Open with Lu Guang Zu winning the Men’s Singles crown. The seventh-seeded Lu, currently ranked No. 13 in the world, overcame a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei’s Lee Chia-hao with a 21-16, 20-22, 21-18 victory in a 68-minute battle, earning his first title of the year.
World No. 9 Pearly-Thinaah finished as runners-up in the Mokpo final on Sunday (September 1), losing 12-21, 11-21 to the host pair, former World No. 3 Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong.
The Malaysian duo had defeated another host pair, World No. 2 Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee, in the semifinals, but they couldn’t replicate their brilliant performance against the formidable Jeong-Kim, who controlled the match from start to finish.
Despite the defeat, Pearly and Thinaah can hold their heads high, as this was their first final appearance since finishing as runners-up at the Hong Kong Open a year ago.
The pair last won a title at the 2022 French Open.
Three years ago, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Mads Frokjaer and Sara Tigsen made headlines by unexpectedly defeating the fourth seeds Lee Shao-he and Shin Seung-chan in the group stage. Today, Lee Shao-he and her current partner, Bai He-na (one of the favorites to win), faced a similar déjà vu at the 2024 Paris Olympics, as they fell to the Danish pair.
The Korean duo seemed to be in control after winning the second game easily, but they were unexpectedly defeated in the third game with scores of 21-18, 9-21, 21-14. Li Chongwei and Bai Yongzhe, who had won three titles this season and were considered gold medal favorites, will now have to focus on their remaining group stage matches.
Frokjaer (right) and Tigsen celebrate.
“We had a few weeks of good practice, and I think we understood some things about them. We knew them, but we didn’t trust them enough; I think we did that today, which gave us a lot of confidence and initiative in the match,” Frokjaer said.
“The audience gave us a lot of positive energy. It helped me today, but sometimes it didn’t. We knew our families would do their best to support us, and we could hear their voices, which gave us a lot of energy on the court and made us more active.”
Tigsen noted that the key to the third game was to regain momentum.
“They started to push in the second game but made a lot of mistakes. Our rhythm wasn’t as fast as in the first game. In the third game, we had to push again. Trusting our performance on the court, especially in serving, was crucial.”
Despite their victory, the Danish pair remains cautious about their upcoming matches against fellow competitors Kittitara Kulphong/Rawinda Prajongsan and Anne Chen/Margot Lambert.
Li/Wang Win Easily
Among the day’s most anticipated matches was the reigning champions Li Yang/Wang Qilin against the 2021 World Champions, Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi.
The match was expected to go down to the wire, but Li Chongwei/Wang Zhelin wrapped it up in just 34 minutes with scores of 21-16, 21-10. This victory provides them with a much more positive start to their Olympic journey compared to their opening match loss in the Tokyo Olympics.
Lee So Hee (Korean: 이소희, June 14, 1994) is a South Korean female badminton player.
In 2010, Lee So Hee competed in the World Junior Badminton Championships in Guadalajara, winning second place in the mixed team and third place in the women’s doubles event (together with Choi Hye-in). The following year, she won the second place in the mixed team and the first place in the women’s doubles event at the World Junior Badminton Championships in Taoyuan County (together with Shin Seung-chan).
In July 2013, Lee represented South Korea at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia, winning gold in the mixed team and bronze in the women’s doubles.
In June 2014, Lee Show-hee and Choi Hye-in appeared at the Canadian Badminton Grand Prix, winning her first Grand Prix women’s doubles title by defeating her teammate’s Park Soyoung/Park Sun Young 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) in the women’s doubles final.
In November 2016, Lee Soo Hee and Zhang Yina competed in the China Badminton Premier Superseries, defeating the Chinese duo in the women’s doubles final to claim the first women’s doubles title at a premier superseries in their badminton careers.
In March 2017, Li Zhaoxi and Zhang Yina appeared in the All England Badminton Premier Superseries, defeating the tournament’s No. 2 seed and Danish powerhouse Kristina Petersen/Camilla Lütte Juhl 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) in the women’s doubles final to win their first ever All-England women’s doubles title. In October of the same year, she and Shin Sung-chan competed in the Denmark Badminton Premier Superseries, and won the Premier Superseries title by defeating tournament No. 6 seed and Japanese powerhouse Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) in the women’s doubles final.
In July 2021, she and Shin Sung-zan competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic badminton women’s doubles tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals by finishing first in Group C. She defeated the Dutch duo of Selena Peek/Cheryl Selning 2-0 (21-8, 21-17) in the quarterfinals to advance to the quarterfinals, and then fell to the Indonesian duo of Gracia Poli/Apriliani 0-2 (19-21, 17-21) in the quarterfinals -Rahayu, and then fell to teammates Kim Cho Yeong/Kong Hee Yong in the bronze medal match to finish fourth, 0-2 (10-21, 17-21).
World Ranking – Women‘s Doubles 2, Week 30, 2024
Olympic Points – Women’s Doubles 2, 101406 points
Finals Ranking – Women’s Doubles 6, 50470 points
Equipment Used
ARCSABER 11 PRO; BG-80; AC-102C; JETSPEED S 10 Fluorescent Rose; AEROBITE; JETSPEED S 12 F; NANOFLARE 700; SHB65Z2MEX; NANOFLARE 700 new color; JETSPEED S 10
Major Achievements
2024 Indonesia Open Badminton Women’s Doubles Champion
2024 Uber Cup Women’s Team Third Place Member
2024 Asian Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Champion
2024 All England Badminton Open Women’s Doubles Champion
2024 India Badminton Open Women’s Doubles Quarter-finalist
2024 Malaysia Badminton Open Women’s Doubles quarter-finals
2023 Badminton World Finals Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2022 Asian Games Badminton Women’s Doubles Silver Medalist
2022 Asian Games Badminton Women’s Team Gold Medal
2023 China Badminton Open Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2023 Indonesia Badminton Open Women’s Doubles Champion
2023 Singapore Badminton Open Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2023 Thailand Badminton Open Women’s Doubles Final Four
2023 Malaysia Badminton Masters Women’s Doubles Champion
2023 Sudirman Cup Mixed Team Championships Runner-up Member
2023 Badminton Asia Championships Women’s Doubles Runner-up
