Home team Yeung Pui Lam and Yeung Nga Ting exit in Women’s Doubles after tough battle; Malaysia world number two pair hopes end prematurely in Men’s Doubles

“LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2025 part of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500” kicked off at the Hong Kong Coliseum on Tuesday with the home team losing all their five pairs in the Women’s Doubles opening round.

Eighth seeds Yeung Pui Lam and Yeung Nga Ting battled over an hour before conceding 2-1 (13-21, 21-19, 18-21) to Hsu Ya-Ching and Sung Yu-Hsuan of Chinese Taipei while another combination of Lui Lok Lok and Tsang Hiu Yan suffered a similar fate. They took the first game 22-20 against Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min of China but lacked the momentum to take them through after losing 7-21, 14-21 in the next two.

In the Men’s Doubles, Sean Vendy and Ben Lane of England pulled off the biggest upset of the day when they ousted top seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in straight games.

With a world ranking 18, the two Yeungs had high hopes against the world number 23 Chinese Taipei opponents whom they have never met before. The home team suffered a slow start in the opening game, trailing behind 3-11 before the break as they lost the game 13-21. It was a closely contested second as the two Yeungs took a 11-8 lead but the opponents fought hard to come from behind with a 19-16 advantage. It was a do-or-die situation for the home team but with a fierce support from the fans, the two Yeungs took five points in a row to level the overall score to 1-all.

Boosted by the comeback, the two Yeungs looked convincing in the opening stages of the rubber game as they took a 11-5 lead. But the opponents were never prepared to lose, hanging in there and coming from behind to regain the lead 17-14. The two Yeungs closed the gap to 18-19 and was just one point behind in the closing stages but that was the best they could offer before losing the game 18-21 and the match.

It was the third conservative first round defeat for the two Yeungs in the Hong Kong Open as they blamed a lack of determination for their latest defeat. “We found it difficult to adjust to the conditions in the opening game and it was not until the second game that we were able to find the rhythm. Although we made improvement in the third, we lack the determination to win as we somehow feared to lose,” they said.

Despite the defeat, the two Yeungs said they had learned something. “Last year, we were happy just to start the match because of injury problems but this time we really want to win on the home ground with a better result. Unfortunately, we still failed to reach the second round in three attempts but will keep trying and hope to do better in future.”

In another match, world number 24 Lui Lok Lok and Tsang Hiu Yan took the first game 22-20 after deuce against fifth seeds Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min of China, the world number nine. The two pairs met in the Asian Championships in April when the Hong Kong, China combination lost in straight games and it looked like heading to a better result for the home team this time. But the more powerful China team players recovered quickly to seal victory with a 21-7, 21-14 win in the next games.

The home pair said they were prepared to challenge the more powerful opponents but failed when they were trailing far behind in the last two games. “We played them in the Asian Championships and found the knowhow to deal with them with our speed. But still our mental state was not strong enough and lost our confidence especially when we had to fight back from behind. We failed to deliver and were too scared to try some tactics.”

Two other young combinations of the home team were given a hard lesson. Cheung Yan Yu and Leung Sze Lok were beaten by third seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China 12-21, 7-21 while Chu Wing Chi and Yu Yi Kiu lost in straight games 9-21, 9-21 to second seeds Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah of Malaysia, silver medallists at the recent World Championships in Paris.

In the Men’s Doubles, Sean Vendy and Ben Lane of England pulled off the biggest upset with a 2-0 win over top seed and world number two pair Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia. After losing their opening game 13-21, the reigning Asian champions and bronze medallists at the 2024 Paris Olympics could hardly improve following another 13-21 loss when Chia once threw his racket on the floor, apparently after losing his temper.

Said the world number 15 England pair, “We played them many times before and I think we really executed the plan well today … if you are playing the world number two and top seeds, all the pressure is supposed to be on them. They gave us a lot more cheap points than what we gave them.”  The two England players also paid tribute to their Malaysian coach for the result. “Obviously, it definitely can’t be a disadvantage of having a Malaysian coach playing against Malaysian players. But at the end of the day, we have to go and play and perform,” they said.

Also, two-time Olympic Mixed Doubles bronze medallist Yuta Watanabe of Japan, who lifted back-to-back Hong Kong Open title with ex-partner Arisa Igarashi in 2018 and 2019, had a good start this year. After changing a number of partners, Watanabe and his new combination, Misaki Matsutomo scored a convincing 21-14, 21-16 win over Loo Bing Kun and Go Pei Kee of Malaysia in the qualifiers.

The new Japanese formation will be keen to check their progress as they face Liu Kuang-Heng and Jheng Yu-Chieh of Chinese Taipei in the opening round. The tournament will also feature a number of home players in the second day, including Lee Cheuk Yiu in the Men’s Singles as the Hong Kong number one will take on Rasmus Gemke of Denmark, the world number 29.

In another notable clash, Ng Ka Long Angus, now 21 in the world, will meet Koki Watanabe of Japan, the world number 19 while fellow Hong Kong, China team member Jason Gunawan, the world number 40, will clash with Alwi Farhan of Indonesia after winning through the qualifiers.

Defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, meanwhile, will be making his first appearance in six months in Hong Kong. The two-time Olympic champion has been sidelined since a back surgery in March. The Danes was supposed to meet Chou Tien-Chen of Chinese Taipei in the first round but following the withdrawal of top seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, the seedings changed and Axelsen will now meet Kodai Naraoka of Japan.

In the Women’s Singles, Lo Sin Yan Happy will take on top seed Wang Zhi Yi of China after winning through the qualifiers while the home team will also feature three pairs in the Mixed Doubles first round. Top combination of Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet, who reached the semi-finals last year, will be eager to make amends as they face Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien of Malaysia while Cheung Sai Shing and Chu Wing Chi will entertain Gao Jia Xuan and Wu Meng Ying of China. The remaining home pair of Hung Kuei Chun/Tsang Hiu Yan will meet Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Crystal Lai of Canada.

The “LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2025 part of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500” will be held at the Hong Kong Coliseum on September 9-14. Tickets are now available at Urbtix. For details, please visit the official home page www.hkopenbadminton.org or contact the Badminton Association of Hong Kong, China at 2504 8318.