From October 31 to November 3, Indonesia will host the All-Star Badminton Invitational, gathering elite players from countries such as Korea, Thailand, Denmark, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and more.
Participants:
Korea: Seo Seung Jae, Lee Yong Dae
Thailand: Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Ratchanok Intanon
Denmark: Viktor Axelsen, Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, Mathias Christiansen
Hong Kong: Lee Cheuk Yiu, Tang Chun Man, Tse Ying Suet
Indonesia: Hendra Setiawan, Greysia Polii, Fajar Alfian, Gideon Markus Fernaldi
Malaysia: Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Goh Sze Fei, Nur Izzuddin, Chan Peng Soon, Toh Ee Wei
Japan: Kodai Naraoka, Aya Ohori, Yuta Watanabe, Nozomi Okuhara, Misaki Matsutomo
“I’m really happy to be back on the court,” said An Se Young after returning to the 2024 VICTOR Denmark Open, her first match since winning the Olympic gold medal in Paris this summer.
Two months ago, in the final held in the French capital, the Korean star defeated He Bingjiao to claim the championship before temporarily stepping away from the badminton scene.
“I was nervous, but after winning the Olympics, I’m happy to be back,” added the 22-year-old with a smile after defeating Pornpicha Choeikeewong 21-16, 21-8.
“I tried to adapt to the conditions of the first match, understand the situation, and regain my feel on the court. I love stepping onto the badminton court—it’s my happy place. I had a lot of rest after Paris. I needed the break to recover from injuries. While my injuries haven’t completely healed, I’m working on it.”
After missing the 2023 season, An is glad to be competing in Odense.
“Denmark is lovely and clean. I’m happy to be back and play in front of the fans. It’s also great to be back on the tour with my teammates. I missed it, but I had time to be with family and friends, doing things I enjoy, like eating Korean BBQ.”
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.
After being hesitant to discuss her retirement plans, Ratchanok Intanon has now confirmed that she plans to stay on the badminton circuit for at least another two years.
She made the announcement at the LI-NING Hong Kong Open 2024, right after defeating Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, the same opponent who ended her Olympic Games run in the quarterfinals last month.
“Badminton has been nearly half of my life. Now, I just want to enjoy what remains of my career,” said the 29-year-old following her 21-12, 15-21, 21-10 victory, which advanced her to the quarterfinals of a Super 500 event for the first time since the Indonesia Masters in January.
“I don’t have high goals. I’ll aim for two more years, targeting the Asian Games (in Nagoya, Japan). I want to stay healthy and not put pressure on myself anymore. I want to keep smiling, even when the results don’t go my way.”
Intanon also shared that she had been focusing on muscle strengthening to deal with her left ankle issue, which had affected both her form and confidence. She chose this path instead of surgery.
“It’s been like a cycle. I had to withdraw last year (against Goh Jin Wei) at this same tournament. I feel I’m physically better now, not just compared to last year but also to the start of this year,” said the 2013 world champion.
“That’s because I’ve gained muscle through weight training, which has made me stronger. It might make me look heavier, but it has given me more power. I need strong ankles for my style of play.
“Choosing not to undergo surgery slowed the recovery, but it was the right decision.”
Intanon, who is set to face Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki next, is joined in the quarterfinals by fellow Thai players Busanan Ongbamrungphan and Pornpawee Chochuwong. Both won their matches in straight games, defeating Yeo Jia Min and Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi, respectively.
As a side note, Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisarn remains the only Thai player to have won the women’s singles title at this event, which she did in 2001.
Ratchanok Intanon (Thai: รัชนก อินทนท์, February 5, 1995), also known as Ithanon, is a Thai female badminton player who has been described as a “talented young woman”, specializing in singles, and has been ranked as high as No. 1 in the world. She has set many records, including winning the 2009, 2010 and 2011 World Junior Championships, becoming the first player to win three consecutive World Junior Championships, and winning the Women’s Singles World Championships in 2013, making her the first World Champion in Thailand’s history, and the youngest women’s singles champion in the history of the World Championships, making her the first in Thai badminton history.
Born into a poor family, Indanon’s parents worked in a sweets factory in Bangkok, Thailand, where she grew up playing with Kamala Thongkorn, the owner of the factory, who also owned the badminton club Banthongyord Badminton School. At the age of six, a coach from Hubei, China, Mr. Xie Zhihua, came to the club and coached Indanon for free, giving her a good foundation for her future career.
At the age of 13, Indanon began playing in youth tournaments under the coaching of former Thai boys’ doubles player Fetabo, and in 2009, at the age of 14, she became the youngest winner of the World Junior Badminton Championships in Malaysia, winning the girls’ singles event. A year later, Indanon went on to defend her women’s singles title at the World Junior Badminton Championships in Mexico, defeating Misaki Matsutomo of Japan in the final.
After defending her World Junior Championships title, Indanon went on to compete in international tournaments in the adult category, winning the Indonesia Golden Grand Prix and the Vietnam Open, before making her debut in the major games in November 2010, representing Thailand at the Guangzhou Asian Games, where she won a silver medal in the women’s team event.
In 2011, Inthanon continued to participate in a number of Grand Prix events, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Grand Prix, the U.S. Grand Prix, and finishing second in the Chinese Taipei Open in September. In October of the same year, Issanon reached the semi-finals of the Danish Premier Grand Prix, making his debut in the quarter-finals of the top five Premier Grand Prix events.
In April 2013, she played in the India Superseries, where she defeated Germany’s Juliane Schenk 2-0 (22-20, 21-14) in the final to win her first Superseries title.
In August 2013, Indanon competed at the Badminton World Championships in Guangzhou, China, as the 4th seed in the women’s singles event. In the final, Indanon won the women’s singles title against top-seeded Li Xuerui of China. In addition to becoming the first world champion in Thailand’s badminton history, she is also the youngest women’s singles champion in the history of the WSC.
In March 2016, Indanon played in the All England Premier Superseries and went out 0-2 (17-21, 19-21) to Carolina Marin of Spain right in the last eight. However, she went on to win three consecutive titles in a single breath at three subsequent super tournaments, the India Super, the Malaysia Top Class Super and the Singapore Super, and even made her debut at No. 1 in the women’s singles world ranking (April 21, 2016) in the following week’s Badminton World Federation rankings list.
In August 2016, Indanon made her second appearance for Thailand in the women’s singles event of the Olympic Games badminton tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, defeating Kati Tolmov of Estonia and Yip Pui-yin of Hong Kong in the group stage to reach the knockout rounds. Indanon faced the tournament’s No. 10 seed and rising star from Japan, Akane Yamaguchi, in the first round and was defeated 0-2 (19-21, 16-21). Indanon said after the match that he did not play well because of the psychological pressure caused by the Olympics.
Indanon cruised to group first in the women’s singles group stage at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to advance to the knockout stage, defeating Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Donzon 21-12, 21-19 in the round of 16, before losing in the last eight to Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying and missing out on the quarterfinals.
Perhaps it is because they are both artists of the badminton world—complex, entertaining, and at times, creatively quirky—that there exists such a deep, unspoken bond between Ratchanok Intanon and Tai Tzu Ying.
This is why Intanon feels heartbroken over Tai Tzu Ying playing her last match at the 2024 Paris Olympics, not to mention that she herself dealt the final blow, keeping her own hopes for an Olympic medal alive.
Intanon comforts her long-time rival Tai. “We knew this was our last match because she would retire after this game, so it made me very sad,” Intanon said, struggling unsuccessfully to hold back tears. “I had to participate this time because I don’t know if I will be able to compete in the next Olympics in four years.”
“We will miss each other. Our styles are alike; playing against each other is like looking in a mirror.”
“After the match, I told her I was happy we could compete together, and I wished her all the best in the future. She wished me good luck.”
Tai herself was also moved to tears. She was disappointed by the condition of her right knee. For months, she had been plagued by an inexplicable injury, and her physical condition was far from ideal to mount a challenge. She bravely tried to keep up the score, but Intanon’s sharp shots shattered her defense. This outcome was in stark contrast to the last Olympics, where Tai narrowly defeated Intanon in the quarterfinals.
Almost instinctively, Tai understood why Intanon felt almost guilty for defeating her.
“I have played with Ratchanok for a long time, and our styles are very similar. She has also been troubled by injuries.
“I wasn’t prepared for this competition before coming here,” she added. “I knew my condition wasn’t great, but I tried my best. I know many people were cheering for me, but I knew I wasn’t in good shape.”
