Rounak Chouhan
Top seed Chou Tien Chen failed to make the quarter-finals of the US Open badminton championships after suffering a close 17-21, 24-26 defeat to unheralded Rounak Chouhan of India.
It was the first ever meeting between the world number 6 Taiwanese and the 80th ranked Rounak. In the end the vast experience of Tien Chen could not take on a player half his age.
Rounak is only 18-years-old while Tien Chen, the former world championships bronze medallist, is 36. The Indian shuttler was just 10-years-old when Tien Chen won his fist BWF Tour title at the German Open in 2018.
While Tien Chen has won 11 Tour titles, has been a mainstay in the circuit despite having been diagnosed with early-stage colorectal cancer in 2023 and underwent a colectomy.
It was Rouhan’s first ever win over a top-10 player.
In the opening game, Rounak found himself trailing 15-17 against the former World Tour Finals champion.
Displaying impressive shot selection and fearless attacking play, he strung together a series of crucial points to overturn the deficit and claim the opener 21-17.
Tien Chen again dominated the early stages of the second game, taking a 17-11 lead. Rounak mounted an extraordinary comeback, gradually narrowing the gap through disciplined rallies and confident net play.
Rounak saved four game points before eventually edging the contest 26-24, completing one of the finest victories by an Indian youngster in recent memory.
The Indian youngster will play Misha Zilberman in the quarter-finals after the Israeli defeated Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei 21-15, 21-19 in his second round match.
India’s veteran Kidambi Srikanth, the fifth seed packed off Lee Zii Jia 21-14, 21-13, confining the Malaysian to another early defeat.
Men’s doubles second seeds Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith were outplayed by Taiwanese Lai Po Yu-Tsai Fu Cheng. The unseeded Taiwanese duo stepped into the quarter-finals with a comfortable 21-19, 21-10 in just 36-minutes.
Japan’s unseeded Sayaka Hirota-Ayako Sakuramoto stopped women’s doubles fourth seeds Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai 24-22, 20-22, 21-16 after a marathon 83-minute to book their places in the quarter-finals.
In the mixed doubles, Taiwanese Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin-Hui pulled off an upset 21-11, 24-22 win over the fourth seeded Japanese duo of Akira Koga-Natsu Saito.
Also out are the seventh seeded Indian pairing of Dhruv Rawat-Maneesha K, who were beaten 24-22, 23-25, 15-21 by Denmark’s Kristoffer Kolding-Mette Werge.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS
Men’s singles: Brian Yang (Can) bt Riki Takei (Jpn) 21-19, 21-17; Misha Zilberman (Isr) bt Cheam June Wei (Mas) 21-15, 21-19; Kidambi Srikanth (Ind) bt Lee Zii Jia (Mas) 21-14, 21-13; Su Li Yang (Tpe) bt Yo Tae-Bin (Kor) 15-21, 21-9, 22-20; Liao Jhuo-Fu (Tpe) bt Joakim Oldorff (Fin) 21-15, 22-24, 21-10; Rounak Chouhan (Ind) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 21-17, 26-24; Harry Huang (Eng) bt Shogo Ogawa (Jpn) 21-15, 21-15; Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) bt Mark Shelly Alcala (USA) 21-14, 21-4
Men’s doubles: Keiichiro Matsui-Kenya Mitsuhashi (Jpn) bt Bjarne Geiss-Joes Ralfy Jansen (Ger) 13-21, 21-6, 21-19; Lai Po Yu-Tsai Fu Cheng (Tpe) bt Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith (USA) 21-19, 21-10; Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Oliver Butler-Samuel Jones (Eng) 21-14, 21-13; Christian Faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer (Den) bt Christopher Grimley-Matthew Grimley (Sco) 21-14, 21-7; Chen Zhi Ray-Lin Yu Chieh (Tpe) bt Lin Chia Yen –Lin Yong Sheng (Tpe) 21-11, 21-12; Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa (Jpn) bt Eloi Adam-Leo Rossi (Fra) 21-15, 21-18; Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Chou Yu Hsiang-Wu Hsuan-Yi (Tpe) 21-18, 21-13; Takuto Goto-Tsubasa Yoshida (Jpn) bt Jiri Kral-Ondrej Kral (Cze) 22-20, 20-22, 21-12
Women’s singles: Kaloyana Nalbantova (Bul) bt Ella Lin (USA) 16-21, 21-16, 21-15; Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj (Ind) bt Chen Su Yu (Tpe) 21-4, 21-19; Riko Gunji (Jpn) bt Huang Ching Ping (Tpe) 20-22, 21-14, 21-10; Line Christophersen (Den) bt Polina Buhrova (Ukr) 21-14, 16-21, 28-26; Tanvi Sharma (Ind) bt Tung Ciou-Tong (Tpe) 21-12, 21-19; Rachel Chan (Can) bt Anna Tatranova (Fra) 16-21, 21-8, 21-9; Sung Shuo Yun (Tpe) bt Peng Yu Wei (Tpe) 21-18, 13-21, 21-18; Devika Sihag (Ind) bt Tonrug Saeheng (Tha) 21-17, 21-19
Women’s doubles: Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (Ind) 21-19, 21-8; Sayaka Hirota-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) bt Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai (USA) 24-22, 10-22, 21-16; Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) bt Amalie Cecilie Kudsk-Simona Pilgaard (Den) 21-17, 21-15; Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhih Yun (Tpe) bt Sian Kelly-Lizzie Tolman (Eng) 21-11, 21-13; Lauren Lam-Allison Quynh Lee (USA) bt Chloe Ho-Stella Pan (USA) 21-7, 21-9; Polina Buhrova-Yevheniia Kantemyr (Ukr) bt Catherine Choi-Tsavanne Mertosono (Can-USA) 22-20, 21-19; Kaho Osawa-Mai Tanabe (Jpn) bt Yuna Kato-Sona Yonemoto (Jpn) 21-17, 21-14; Lin Chih-Chun-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) bt Hsieh Mi Yen-Yu Chien Hui (Tpe) 21-14, 16-21, 21-19
Mixed doubles:
Presley Smith-Jennie Gai (USA) bt Oliver Butler-Abbygael Harris (Eng) 21-17, 21-17; Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin-Hui (Tpe) bt Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-11, 24-22; Teges Satriaji Cahyo Hutomo-Chloe Ho (Ina-USA) bt Christopher Martinez-Diana Corleto (Gua) 21-10, 21-4; Kristoffer Kolding-Mette Werge (Den) bt Dhruv Rawat-Maneesha K (Ind) 22-24, 25-23, 21-15; Lin Bing-Wei-Lin Jhih Yun (Tpe) bt Ansen Liu-Charity Lam (USA) 21-17, 21-16; Callum Hemming-Estelle van Leeuwen (Eng) bt Daniel Leung-Jackie Dent (Can) 21-12, 21-13; Timothy Lock-Chloe Hoang (Can) bt Davi Silva-Sania Lima (Bra) 21-15, 9-21, 21-15; Wu Hsuan-Yi-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) bt Julien Maio-Lea Palermo (Fra) 13-21, 21-19, 21-6
