LI-NING Hong Kong Open｜Axelsen to meet Chou Tien Chen in quarterfinals Tai Tzu Ying retires because of injury but still thank fans’ support

LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships continued its third day action. Star player Viktor Axelsen advanced to the MEN’S SINGLES quarterfinals after being fully stretched by upcoming Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei, especially in the first game which was decided after deuce. However, Tai Tzu Wing, ‘badminton queen’ of Chinese Taipei, had to retire in her first game against Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia because of injuries, exiting the Hong Kong Open two years in a row for the same reason.

Two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark continued his winning form against upcoming Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei. After beating home player Ng Ka Long Angus in the opening round, second seed Axelsen faced some difficult time against the 22-year-old opponent in the opening game. Ranked 34 in the world, Su once went down 12-18 but fought back fiercely to level the score to 20-all, forcing the game into a tie breaker. After missing three game points, Axelsen finally secured it 24-22. The Danes showed no mercy in the second, thrashing Su 21-6 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Axelsen exchanged words with the umpire in the deciding stages of the first game, accusing the opponent of yelling before the shuttlecock had landed, even though the line judgement eventually decided the ball was out.

He said after the match, “When I hit the backhand, I didn’t know if the shuttlecock was out but he yelled before the call was made. I was caught up in a moment … I knew the first game was very important but I was also a bit disappointed that I didn’t have any challenge left or I wouldn’t care.

“It’s not easy coming from a second Olympic gold … I haven’t been able to practice as structure as I usually do. Nevertheless, I think my level here has been quite consistent. It’s not easy to win straight games from this stadium and I managed to do two times now and so I am very satisfied.”

Despite his Olympic success, Axelsen has never won in Hong Kong and even went out in the first round last year. However, the Danes remained confident this time. He will now meet Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals after the latter easily beat world number 122 Saran Jamsri of Thailand 2-0.

In another MEN’S SINGLES, defending champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia and the third seed beat Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in straight games. He will now face Japan number one Kodai Naraoka in the quarterfinals. The latter needed three games (19-21, 26-24, 21-11) before sending home compatriot Takuma Obayashi. Anthony Ginting of Indonesia, the seventh seed, also struggled against Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei before winning in three games 21-18, 20-22, 21-9 to set up the clash against Jason Gunawan of Hong Kong, China.

In the WOMEN’S SINGLES, three-time Hong Kong Open champion Tai Tzu Wing, who retired in the first round last year because of injuries, returned to the Coliseum to seek her fourth title. But against Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia, Tai still plagued by injuries and could do little to change her fate. Trailing 2-6 in the first game, she decided to end her 2024 campaign prematurely.

“Of course I wanted to play and made all the necessary preparations, but unfortunately the situation was not that ideal when started working on the court,” she said.

Tai did not specify what kind of injury she suffered, only saying she would go through a detailed check-up when returning home to find out what happened. “I said yesterday that I had the feeling of retirement at any time.” But still the popular player would thank the fans for their support and was ‘happy to see their faces again’ in Hong Kong.

Elsewhere, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand sent home Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia after three games while Japanese duo, Toyoka Miyazaki and Aya Ohori, both went through to the quarterfinals, along with Han Yue of China.