What a day! This is what our European stars said after their matches.
Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) vs Kirsty Gilmour (SCO) 21-9 21-18
On losing to Akane Yamaguchi:
- I don't think I played badly in the first game, but she's obviously a solid opponent. It's very difficult to get errors from her. I think I managed that pretty well in the second. Her retrieving like the other Japanese players is very good, so I was ready for that, and I could play well, but maybe I was just out of match practice in the last few months. - Gilmour
Mia Blichfeldt (DEN) vs Linda Zetchiri (BUL) 21-10 21-3
On her straightforward victory:
- I really enjoyed myself on the court. I found a good level and I was calm so it was fun. Mentally I'm ready for another good fight (in the next round). - Blichfeldt
Thuy Linh Nguyen (VIE) vs Sabrina Jacquet (SUI)
On her last career match:
- I've been struggling a week now with (ankle injury) so that showed on the court. There's no miracle in sport, I have to accept it. Wasn't a good tournament for me. This is my last tournament. I'm quitting. - Jaquet
On retiring on the biggest stage:
- I have to be satisfied with that. I wanted more than just being here. Sad to quit but in a way I'm relieved. I wanted to stop last year but decided to give it another year and I don't regret it. It's hard to describe my emotions now but I will be able to reflect on my career in a few weeks. – Jaquet
Tang Chun Man/ Tse Ying Suet (HKG) vs Marcus Ellis/ Lauren Smith (GBR) 21-13 21-18
On losing against a pair ranked below them in the world:
- It was definitely an opportunity. We know we can beat them – we did last time – but we also know they are a very good pair.
- I just think I’m more gutted about our performance than the result. We never got consistency, we didn’t quite nail the tactics like we like to, and maybe we were a little bit off the speed of the game as well.
- If we’d given our best performance and lost, then fair play, but to not do it on the day is disappointing. I think they were just better than us today. - Smith
On querying the serve of his opponents at 15-13 down in the first game:
- I think a lot of the time when he (TANG) is serving he is serving right behind the girl (TSE), and the shuttle has to be visible when it’s being struck. I’d say half of the serves actually, they almost hide behind her head or back.
- It (speaking to the umpire) is very disruptive to the game, but if you can’t see the shuttle being struck, it’s quite a disadvantage, so you have to stop and say: ‘You need to do it again’ or ‘She needs to move’.
- It doesn’t particularly bother me and I don’t think it had an impact today (but) we’ve played them in the past and had the exact same issue, and from what other games I’ve seen they’ve also had the same issue. - Ellis
On their Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 experience:
- I think when we look back we can say we had some very good performances, but I didn’t come here to lose in the quarterfinals. - Ellis
Mark Caljouw (NED) vs Sai Praneeth B. (IND) 21-14 21-14
After his win over Praneeth:
- This is amazing. This feels wonderful. I was still in the end, quite nervous and a bit shaky but when I was winning that last match point, that felt great. - Caljouw
On a crucial win:
- It's nice to play when you have to win instead of winning one game and only focusing on that. When we saw the results of the first game we kept going with our own plan and not thinking too much about anything and I think that's good. - Caljouw
On the Dutch badminton team:
- I think we're on fire this tournament. We've had good preparation with the whole team and I like to see the team do well. - Caljouw
Viktor Axelsen (DEN) vs Kalle Koljonen (FIN) 21-9 21-13
On his performance:
- I think it was a good performance today. I managed to step up, compared to my first round, so obviously I’m really satisfied and happy to be through to the next stages. - Axelsen
- I think it’s good to be tested a little bit. I go in there with huge respect for my opponents. Today was no different. I know Kalle recently from the European Championships so I knew I had to step up. – Axelsen
On his Olympic campaign:
- I hope I can do well here. Last time I got a bronze medal and I believe in myself, I believe I can win this but I'm also rational so I know I have to play at my highest level. - Axelsen
On supporting his teammate Anders Antonsen (DEN):
- I will probably watch them back at the Olympic Village. I have to get home and recover. Hopefully the Danish team will do well. - Axelsen
After his loss to Axelsen:
- Viktor is a world-class player and you know when he gets into the flow, his attacking shots are so accurate - either on the line or barely on the line. So for me as a player who likes to attack more than defend, I'm not a big retriever. When I get to attack, I can challenge him but today Axelsen was more active on the net. He got the advantage there and I think that was the key to his victory. - Koljonen
On playing Axelsen:
- If he's going to continue playing like that then he's going to win the whole tournament. - Koljonen
On playing at the Olympics:
- I feel so alive when I play world-class players. This is my goal to get to this point and challenge these guys. I will work on this and hope for Paris 2024. - Koljonen
Wang Tzu Wei (TPE) vs Nhat Nguyen (IRL) 21-12 18-21 21-12
On the result:
- I have no regrets. At 11-11 in the third game, that's when he started to be more aggressive. I thought I had a chance at 15-12, something happened to his neck and I thought, okay, this is a good chance to test his neck out, but he was fine. I think it was more mind games. I will watch it back and learn from it and I look forward to the next few Olympics. I feel I can use this experience as a positive. – Nguyen
On his future:
- I feel I need to be in this condition more and be in this pressure situation more. I want to play the BWF [World Tour Super] 500s. With more matches like this I can get a better feeling when I'm in this situation. I didn't handle 11-11 well. It was a little overwhelming. - Nguyen
Anders Antonsen (DEN) vs Ade Resky Dwicahyo (AZE) 21-16 21-15
On his match today:
- Ah it was okay. It wasn't as smooth sailing as the last match. I think Ade played really good. I haven't faced him before. Some of his skills and techniques were really good. It surprised me a bit to be honest. - Antonsen
His thoughts on managing pressure:
- I really want to win this tournament, of course that adds pressure for myself but I'm just very excited to be here and play very match so I'm eager to win. - Antonsen
On his relaxed nature:
- I'm just a happy kid who likes to have fun, compete and play badminton. I guess I'm pretty chilled. - Antonsen
After his exit from the Olympics:
- Yes I'm quite happy. I gave my best. I gave it everything, I'm happy because I can play with the top 10 players. - Dwicahyo
On his opponent:
- Anders is very good at both attacking and defending. At each point he's in control. There were some points I could make but he's more able to be in control. - Dwicahyo
On his family support:
- They are watching me everyday. All my family and friends have been watching me. - Dwicahyo
Toby Penty (GBR) vs Kantaphon Wangcharoen (THA) 21-19 21-12
After topping his group:
- How about that?! I felt confident after the first match. I felt I'd played a good opening match given it's my first time at the Olympics, so that gave me confidence going into this match. I studied Wangcharoen's game quite hard last night and found a few things we thought we could exploit and that first game was crucial and once I got that, it seemed to shake in a bit and I grew in confidence. I'm just really happy. - Penty
On the Olympic dream:
- I just want to embrace the experience. Being my first time, I came into it with a fresh mindset. I trained really well beforehand. I felt super confident in my body and my mind. I was just super excited to get going. - Penty
On the match:
- I think I got my lengths to the back court right. I could see him [Wancharoen] struggling with his lifts a bit. I mixed it up with good lifts and constantly giving him a different look and I grew more confident in my attacking shots. - Penty