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.
Taiwanese badminton men’s doubles star Lee Yang held his retirement ceremony yesterday, during which a highlight reel of his career was shown, and several badminton stars offered their blessings. These included Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man, and Indonesia’s doubles specialists Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. Lee Yang remarked that, at the beginning of the ceremony, the atmosphere felt like a class reunion, but after hearing everyone’s blessings, he truly realized that he had reached the end of his career.
Lee’s former partners, from Chiang Yu-Wei and Lee Jhe-Huei to Wang Chi-Lin, with whom he won an Olympic gold medal, all attended the event to offer their best wishes. Lee Yang made a special comment to Lee Jhe-Huei, saying, “In the past, you were always the first to leave practice early, but this time, it’s my turn to leave the court first.” After saying this, he couldn’t hold back his tears. Chiang Yu-Wei also shared a story, calling Lee Yang a “serious perfectionist.” He mentioned that when they played singles games, the loser had to buy drinks or do push-ups, “But Lee Yang would always seriously record who should be punished on his phone. I’d think, is that really necessary?”
Lee Yang said, “I’m very grateful to myself for sticking with it for so long. I would sleep at 11 p.m. every day and wake up at 7:20 a.m. If there was anything that could help my badminton, I would want to do it.”
After the retirement ceremony, Lee Yang posted an emotional message on social media, saying that in a few years, he wasn’t sure if people would still remember him. Reflecting on his past efforts, he recalled how a “little chubby boy” fought hard on the badminton court, pushing himself to be disciplined just to show his best form. Now, that little chubby boy must say a proper goodbye to the court he loved and to the people who supported him. He ended his message with, “The curtain falls on Lee Yang’s badminton career.”
Regarding his post-retirement plans, Lee Yang revealed that he will begin teaching at a sports university today. In the future, he hopes to find time to organize a cycling trip around Taiwan and to travel to the U.S. to watch NBA basketball games.
Mohammad Ahsan is an Indonesian male badminton player who specializes in doubles events.
In September 2008, Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septener competed in the Japan Badminton Premier Tournament and finished second in the men’s doubles final, defeating the tournament’s No. 2 seeds, Danish powerhouse Lars Pasker/Jonas Rasmussen, 1-2 (17-21, 21-15, 13-21).
In June 2009, Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septener played in the Philippine Badminton Golden Grand Prix and won their first international Golden Grand Prix title after defeating tournament No. 5 seed and teammates’ Alwent Yulianto Chandra/Hendra Aplida Gunawan, 2-1 (10-21, 21-14, 21-17) in the men’s doubles final.
In November 2010, Mohamad Asan represented Indonesia at the Guangzhou Asian Games, competing in the men’s doubles (with Alwent Yulianto Chandra) and men’s team events in badminton, winning two bronze medals.
In January 2013, Hendra Setiawan and Muhammad Ahsan competed in the Malaysia Badminton Super Series, defeating the tournament’s No. 6 seed and Korean powerhouse Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae 2-0 (21-15, 21-13) in the men’s doubles final, which was also representative of their winning their first international Super Series men’s doubles title.
In August 2013, Ahsan/Hendra competed in the Men’s Doubles event at the World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou, China. In the final, Hendra/Ahsan took on the No. 3 seeds, Bowie & Morgensen of Denmark, and won the title by defeating their opponents 2-0 (21-13, 23-21) in 33 minutes; this was also Hendra’s World Championships title after a 6-year hiatus.
In March 2014, Hendra Setiawan and Muhammad Ahsan played in the All England Badminton Premier Super Tournament, defeating the tournament’s No. 2 seed and Japanese powerhouse, Dayu Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) in the men’s doubles final, which was also the first All-England men’s doubles title of his badminton career that he won individually and with his partner. In September of the same year, he represented Indonesia in the Asian Games badminton tournament held in Incheon, South Korea, facing another group of South Korea’s Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong in the final, caught in a bitter struggle to defeat their opponents 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 21-17), which is also his personal and different partners to win the men’s doubles gold medal at the Asian Games two times, successfully defended for the domination of Indonesia in this event.
He participated in the World Badminton Championships held in his home country in August 2015, where he and Muhammad Ahsan played in the men’s doubles event. The final was an unchallenged and easy 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) win over the tournament’s 9th seeds, Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan of China, winning the men’s doubles title at the World Championships again after a year. In December of the same year, he and Mohamed Ahsan played in the BWF Super Series Finals. In the final, the team took down Chai Biao/Hong Wei of China 2-1 (13-21, 21-14, 21-14) in a three-set battle to win his first men’s doubles title at the year-end badminton finals.
In March 2019, Hendra and Mohammad Ahsan played in the All England Open Badminton Championships, defeating Malaysian powerhouse Xie Dingfeng/Su Weiye in the men’s doubles final 2-1 (11-21, 21-14, 21-12) to regain the Super 1000 men’s doubles title after five years.
In August 2019, Mohammad Ahsan partnered Hendra at the World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, defeating the Japanese duo of Jorang Hiroki/Yugo Kobayashi in the final to win their third individual World Championships Men’s Doubles title.
In 2021, Hendra and Mohammad Ahsan won the 2020 Thomas Cup badminton men’s team title.
World Ranking – Men’s Doubles 14, Week 29, 2024
Olympic Points – Men’s Doubles 17 , 56140 points
Finals Ranking – Men’s Doubles 28, 29230 points
Equipment Used
THRUSTER F Falcon Black Gold; AURASPEED 100X; ARCSABER 11; 3D CALIBAR 900B; NANOSPEED 9900; P8500 II; VBS-70; GR233; NANORAY 900; THRUSTER F Falcon Ultra
Major Achievements
2024 Australian Open Badminton Men’s Doubles Runner-Up
2023 Arctic Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2023 Hong Kong Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2023 All England Open Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2022 Badminton World Finals Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2022 Tokyo Badminton World Championships Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2022 Singapore Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2022 Malaysia Badminton Masters Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2022 Thomas Cup Badminton Men’s Team Championships Runner-up
2022 Korea Open Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2022 All England Open Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2022 India Open Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2020 Thomas Cup Badminton Men’s Team Champion
2020 Tokyo Olympics Badminton Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2020 Badminton World Federation Year End Finals Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2020 Asian Badminton Championships Men’s Team Champion
2019 WBF Finals Men’s Doubles Champion
2019 Japan Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2019 Indonesia Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2019 World Badminton Championships Men’s Doubles Champion
2019 New Zealand Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Champion
2019 Singapore Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2019 All England Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Champion
2019 Indonesia Badminton Masters Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2018 Hong Kong China Open Badminton Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2018 China Fuzhou Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2018 Denmark Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2018 Asian Games Badminton Men’s Team Silver Medal
2018 Singapore Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Champion
2018 Thomas Cup Men’s Team 3rd Runner-up
2018 Malaysia Badminton International Challenge Men’s Doubles Champion
2018 Germany Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2018 Badminton Asia Championships Men’s Team Champion
2018 India Badminton Open Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2017 China Badminton Premier Super Tournament Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2017 World Badminton Championships Men’s Doubles Runner-up
2017 China Badminton International Challenge Men’s Doubles Champion
Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals, Hong Kong Badminton Super Tournament, China, 2016
2016 Japan Badminton Premier Men’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2016 Thomas Cup Men’s Team Runner-up
2016 Badminton Asia Championships Men’s Team Champion
