Injuries knock out top drawcards

Several top seeds including newly crowned Singapore Open men’s doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and former world champions Loh Kean Yew and Kunlavut Vitidsarn are all out of the Indonesian Open badminton championships due to injuries.

The day also saw defending men’s singles champion Anders Antonsen  being shown the way out.

A recurrence of a right shoulder injury to Satwiksairaj saw the Indian pair conceding their opening match while trailing 6-11 to Malaysian upstarts Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai.

Singaporean ace Kean Yew, who was beaten in the final in Singapore on Sunday, decided not to continue the third game against Hong Kong Kong’s Angus Ng ka Long. The 2017 world champion Yew has never beaten Angus in all his previous five meetings, and was tied after the first two games 21-14, 16-21.

Thailand’s Kunlavut, the world champion in 2024, retired injured for the second time in two weeks. A lower back injury forced the world number two to retire mid-match against India’s Lakshya Sen in the Round of 16 in Singapore.

This time in Indonesia, he retired after trailing 1-5 in his match against Frenchman Toma Junior Popov.

While the retirements took some shine of the tournament, there were also a number of spectacular performances that saw several seeded pairs exiting the tournament early.

Antonsen, the defending men’s singles champion was one of the big names failing to get past the opening round. He was beaten for the second time in as many weeks by 21-year-old Frenchman Alex Lanier.

Lanier, who beat Antonsen in the quarter-finals enroute to winning the Singapore Open on Sunday, had a relatively easy 21-8, 21-7 win in Jakarta.

Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi, seeded eighth, also joined Antonsen at the exit. He was beaten by Canadian Victor Lai 12-21, 18-21.

Malaysian Masters champion Ratchanok Intanon was beaten for the first time in four meetings by Taiwanese Chiu Pin-Chian in the women’s singles. Pin-China toiled for 69-minutes before getting past the Thai veteran 19-21, 21-16, 21-19.

Third seeded Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri were also given a rude awakening in the first round of the men’s doubles. China’s Chen Boyang-Liu Yi eased to a 21-13, 21-14 win in just 37-minutes to advance.

In the women’s doubles, third seeds Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee of Korea succumbed to a 13-21, 21-17, 14-21 defeat to Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti. The Indonesian world number 29 had also beaten the Korean pair in their previous meeting in the second round of the Badminton Asia Championships last month.

Stoeva sisters – Gabriela and Stefani of Bulgaria, the eights seeds were also bundled out in a match that swung wildly to both sides. In the end it was Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara of Japan, who prevailed 21-6, 12-21, 22-20.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Men’s singles:  Angus Ng ka Long (Hkg) bt Loh Kean Yew (Sgp) 14-21, 21-16 rtd; Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Anders Antonsssen (Den) 21-8, 21-17; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) 5-1 rtd; Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hkg) bt Christo Popov (Fra) 21-15, 19-21, 21-11; Victor Lai (Can) bt Lin Chun-Yi (Tpe) 21-12, 21-18; Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) 21-8, 10-21, 21-12; Nguyen Nhat (Ire) bt H.S. Prannoy (Ind) 21-17, 16-21, 21-19; Ayush Shetty (Ind) bt Weng Hongyang (Chn) 8-21, 22-20, 21-15; Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Brian Yang (Can) 21-19, 21-15

Men’s doubles: Chen Boyang-Liu Yi (Chn) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) 21-13, 21-14; Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Ina) bt Chen Yhi Zi-Presley Smith (USA) 21-19, 13-21, 23-21; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Rahmat Hidayat (Ina) 21-8, 21-13; Kang Min-hyuk-Ki Dong-ju (Kor) bt Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard (Den) 21-17, 21-17; Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai (Mas) bt Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) 11-6 rtd; He Zhi-Wei-Huang Jui-Hsuan (Tpe) bt Ali Faathir Rayhan-Devin Artha Wahyudi (Ina) 13-21, 21-17, 21-11; Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Ina) bt Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi (Jpn) 21-9, 21-13; Huang Di-Liu Yang (Chn) bt Kevin Lee-Ty Alexander Lindeman (Can) 21-16, 19-21, 21-16; Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami (Jpn) 21-16, 21-16; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Junaidi Arif-Yap Roy King (Mas) 21-15, 21-14

Women’s singles: Chiu Pin-Chian (Tpe) bt Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 19-21, 21-16, 21-19; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Yeo Jia Min (Sgp) 21-18, 21-12; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Huang Yu-Hsun (Tpe) 21-17, 21-11; Pitchamon Opatniputh (Tha) bt Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) 21-8, 21-13; Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) bt Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) 21-16, 21-16; An Seyoung (Kor) bt Neslihan Arin (Tur) 21-18, 21-6; Sim Yujin (Kor) bt Kirsty Gilmour (Sco) 21-17, 21-18; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Unnati Hooda (Ind) 21-15, 21-14; Letshanaa Karupathevan (Mas) bt Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (Den) 21-14, 19-21, 21-13

Women’s doubles: Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Lanny Tria Mayasari-Apriyani Rahayu (Ina) 21-18, 21-19; Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) bt Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 21-13, 17-21, 21-14; Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 21-6, 12-21, 22-20; Hsu Ya Ching-Sung Yu-Hsuan (Tpe) bt Liu Lok Lok-Tsang Hiu Yan (Hkg) 21-13, 17-21, 21-16; Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Polina Buhrova-Yevheniia Kantemyr (Ukr) 21-10, 21-10; Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam (Hkg) bt Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) 18-21, 21-15, 21-13; Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard (Tha) bt Chang Ching Hui-Yang Ching Tun (Tpe) 21-8, 21-10; Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai (USA) bt Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) 21-9, 10-21, 23-21; Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting (Mas) bt Kaho Osawa-Mai Tanabe (Jpn) 15-21, 21-9, 21-19; Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas) bt Jackie Dent-Crystal Lai (Can) 21-13, 21-14

Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 23-21, 19-21, 21-19; Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai (Mas) bt Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) 17-21, 21-16, 23-21; Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) bt Pakkapon Teeraratsakul-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 21-14, 21-14; Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Shivani Gadde (Ind) bt Pang Po-Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang (Tpe) 21-14, 21-14; Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) Marwan Faza-Aisyah Salsabila Putri Pranata (Ina) 21-17, 21-9; Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu (Ina) bt Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong (Kor) 21-11, 21-14; Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Marvin Seidel-Nguyen Thuc Phuong (Ger) 18-21, 21-17, 21-16; Gao Jiaxuan-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien (Mas) 21-11, 21-17