This week, the SATHIO GROUP Australian Badminton Open 2026 is taking place, with many of the world's top players opting to skip the tournament after an intense four-week stretch of World Tour events across Asia.

Several of Europe's leading players also decided not to make the trip to Australia, although a number of European stars were still present in the draws. Read more about that here.

As the second round concluded on Thursday, it became clear that the only European athletes remaining in the tournament are five-time European Champions Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva.

The Bulgarian sisters secured their place in the quarter-finals with a convincing 21-17, 21-9 victory over USA's Chang/Yeung. They will now face Indonesia's Rose/Setianingrum, currently ranked World No. 11, for a place in the semi-finals.

The result also means that other European players saw their Australian campaigns come to an end in the second round.

Ireland's Nhat Nguyen was defeated by Malaysia's Justin Hoh 21-17, 21-19 in a match where the Irishman was considered the favourite on paper, and also led the match in both games, but fell short when things got decided.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine's young women's doubles pair Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr were also eliminated. The Ukrainians fell 21-9, 21-12 to Indonesia's Kusama/Puspitasari, the current World No. 15 pair.