An eventful week in Malaysia has just wrapped up, and we now know the winners of the tournament. But before we get to the champions, let’s look back at Tuesday and the start of the event.
Delays and injuries
Due to heavy rain in Malaysia, water leaked through the roof, making it difficult to continue matches on courts 2 and 3. This resulted in several matches being postponed to Wednesday, including some featuring European players.
Among these were the Danish men’s doubles pair Rasmus Kjær and Frederik Søgaard, as well as the temporary women’s doubles pairing of Sara Thygesen and Australia’s Setyana Mapasa. Unfortunately, both matches ended on a sour note. Rasmus Kjær had to withdraw due to injury with the score at 12-7 in the first set. Similarly, Mapasa had to retire just three points from victory at 21-14, 18-17.
Viktor Axelsen also exited the tournament in the first round in his first match back after missing the World Tour Finals due to injury. Although Axelsen completed the match, it was clear that he hadn’t yet regained his former strength.
Strong performances and upsets
However, there were also positive stories early in the tournament. Toma Popov delivered a fantastic performance by defeating world number 3 Jonathan Christie in the first round. Although he couldn’t follow it up with a win against NG Ka Long Angus in the second round, his victory showed that on his best days, Toma Popov can beat the very best.
Callum Hemming and Estelle Van Leeuwen won their first-ever match at a Super 1000 tournament on Tuesday.
Ben Lane and Sean Vendy made a strong comeback, defeating world number 6 He and Ren from China. The quarterfinals marked the end of their run, but next week in India, they are set to face Rasmus Kjær and Frederik Søgaard, provided Kjær recovers from his injury.
Mia Blichfeldt also delivered a strong first-round performance, defeating young Tomoka Miyazaki. Unfortunately, she couldn’t replicate that success in the second round, exiting the tournament against Beiwen Zhang from the USA.
Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard stunned everyone, including themselves, by defeating world number 3 Goh and Izzuddin from Malaysia in the first round. However, they were eliminated in the second round by Toma and Christo Popov, after missing six match points in the second set.
Finals day
The only European to reach finals day was Anders Antonsen, who has been playing incredible badminton since Denmark Open in October, with two tournament wins and a runner-up finish at the World Tour Finals.
The only player ranked above him, Shi Yu Qi, proved too strong once again in the final, defeating Antonsen 21-8, 21-15.
In women’s doubles, Japan’s Fukushima and Matsumoto claimed the title with a 17-21, 21-15, 21-15 victory over China’s Jia and Zhang.
The women’s singles final featured the world number 1 and 2, with An Se Young once again proving why she’s number 1 by defeating Wang Zhi Yi 21-17, 21-7.
World number 1 in mixed doubles, China’s Feng and Huang, had to settle for second place after losing the final 13-21, 21-19, 18-21 to Thailand’s Puavaranukroh and Paewsampran.
In men’s doubles, South Korea’s Kim and Seo won the final against China’s Chen and Liu with a score of 19-21, 21-12, 21-12.
Congratulations to all the winners on their new titles!
Next week, the action continues with the Super 750 tournament Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2025.