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.
With the withdrawal of top seed Shi Yuqi, Jonatan Christie faces a challenging start in his title defense at the 2024 Li-Ning Hong Kong Open.
Following the seed withdrawals, Christie is now the top-ranked player in the draw and will face Wang Tzu Wei in the first round. Wang holds a narrow 8-7 lead in their head-to-head encounters, though Christie has won two of their last three matches.
Similarly, Christie’s Indonesian teammate, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, also faces a new opponent—Toma Junior Popov. Six weeks ago, the Frenchman ended Ginting’s 2024 Paris Olympic dream in the group stage.
Last year, Christie became the first Indonesian men’s singles player to stand on the podium since Budi Santoso in 1998.
Withdrawals:
Men’s singles: Li Shi Feng (fourth seed), Lee Chia Hao Women’s singles: Wang Zhi Yi (second seed), Nozomi Okuhara (eighth seed), Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (second seeds), Choong Hon Jian/Haikal Muhammad (eighth seeds) Mixed doubles: Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia Hsin (fifth seeds), Choong/Go Pei Kee
Promotions:
Men’s singles: Justin Hoh, Cheam June Wei, Jason Gunawan Women’s singles: Lee Yu-Hsuan, Yu Chien Hui, Pitchamon Opatniputh Men’s doubles: Huang Di/Zhou Hao Dong, Kim Gi Jung/Kim Sa Rang Mixed doubles: Wang Chi-Lin/Hsu Yin-Hui, Leong Iok Chong/Ng Weng Chi
Chou Tien-chen advanced to the men’s singles semifinals at the Super 300 Taipei Open today, defeating Malaysia’s Hoh Justin 21-12, 21-14, moving one step closer to his fifth title in the tournament’s history.
Chou let out several emotional roars as he scored in the final moments of the match. He explained afterward that seeing so many spectators today motivated him to leave everyone with great memories. He also mentioned Tai Tzu-ying, who had just lost earlier, saying, “Even though Tai lost, she still won because so many people came to watch.”
Chou will face Chi Yu-jen in the semifinals, as Chi earlier defeated “Badminton Prince” Wang Tzu-wei in straight sets. Chou, who experienced a health issue last week (damage to his left lung tissue and surrounding soft tissue), said that he’s already very grateful to participate in the Taipei Open, and no matter who his opponent is, he will give it his all and show his best performance.
Chou has faced Chi Yu-jen three times in international competitions without losing. He remarked that his junior will certainly prepare thoroughly for the match, but Chou will take a humble approach and rise to the challenge.
Wang Tzu Wei is a male badminton player from Chinese Taipei.
In September 2013, Prince Wei played in the Chinese Taipei Badminton Golden Grand Prix, defeating No. 9 seed Lee Dong-geun of South Korea in his first match, and finally making it to the quarterfinals, which was a personal best in an international tournament.
On December 1, 2019, Wang Ziwei reached the semifinals of the Australian Open (Super 300) in June, the Canadian Open (Super 100) in July, and the Korea Open (Super 500) in September, and won the men’s singles event at the Saeed Modi Badminton International (Super 300) in November. He also won the men’s singles event in the Saeed Modi Badminton International (Super 300) in November, winning the badminton title for the third year.
On July 29, 2021, Prince Wei participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics and lost in the Men’s Singles Round of 16 against Anselmo Ansalon (16-21, 14-21), ending up in the Round of 16 in his Olympic debut.
World Ranking – Men’s Singles 21, Week 33, 2024
Olympic Points – Men’s Singles 23, 53190 points
Finals Ranking – Men’s Singles 11, 48020 points
Equipment Used
AURASPEED 100X,VBS-66 NANO,DriveX 10 METALLIC,DriveX 9X,A970 NitroLite,GR233,HYPERNANO X 900,HYPERNANO X 900X,SHA960,A930
