The finals have wrapped up at the YONEX French Open 2024. It was an amazing tournament which gave us a glimpse at what the 2024 Paris Games could look like.
Women’s Singles:
In the women’s singles finale between Japan's Akane Yamaguchi and Korea's An Se Young, Yamacuchi had a great start in the first game which she closed 21-18. In the second game, An Se Young seemed to be exhausted, lying on the ground at one point. But she got up and managed to fight back, winning the second game, and ended up dominating the last game. The final score was 18-21, 21-13, 21-10.
A Badminton Europe highlight reel from the finale can be watched here.
Mixed Doubles:
In the mixed double’s finale, it was Feng Yan Zhe/ Huang Dong Ping from China who faced off against Seo Seung Jae/ Chae Yu Jung from Korea. In the end, the Chinese pair were the strongest and led both games all the way, securing a final victory of 21-16 21-16.
Women’s Doubles:
The women’s doubles was an absolute thriller. Here, Chen Qing Chen/ Jia Yi Fan from China, number one seeds, faced off against Japan’s Nami Matsuyama/ Chiharu Shida. In the first game, Chen/ Jia got a fairly comfortable win ending it 21-12 in the second game. In the second game, the Chinese pair were still playing best and leading in the beginning but as the game went on Matsuyama/ Shida started chipping away at their lead and in the end took the second game.
Matsuyama/ Shida continued their momentum and were comfortably leading the game, and at some point it was 13-7 and they ended up with five matchpoints at 20-15. However this was when Chen/ Jia kept their head cool and took six consecutive points, and ended up winning the last game (and the championship), 24-22
.
Men’s Singles
In Men’s singles, it was the world's ranked number two Shi Yu Qi from China facing off against the world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand. After a very close first game in which Shi Yu Qi managed to win 22-20, he looked extremely dominant in the second game, and was leading 20-12 looking to easily grab the title. However, Vitidsarn seemed to have other plans as he got himself back to 20-19 and just as it looked like the world champion was getting the momentum and turning the game around, Shi Yu Qi closed the show and got the second game finishing at 21-19.
Watch Qi's celebration here
Men’s Doubles
In the Men’s doubles, it was the number one seeded pair from India Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/ Chirag Shetty facing off against Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei/ Yang Po-Husan who have been in top-form and
won the YONEX German Open the previous week.
By far the shortest finale of the day, at only 37 minutes total, the Indian favourites showed why they were seeded number one. In the first game, Rankireddy/ Shetty were able to build a lead early on and held it until the game ended 21-11. In the second game, it was back and forth with Lee/ Yang leading the majority of the game but never for more than three points. However, in the end-game, Rankireddy/ Shetty closed the gap and pulled away with a 21-17, victory making them champions
All England Next Week
We have enjoyed covering this exciting tournament in Paris here at Badminton Europe. As a fan, you can look forward to the coverage of the All England next week. We are just as excited as you to get started!