The opening day of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament has already delivered major upsets, as European players like Ben Lane/Sean Vendy, Mia Blichfeldt, and others advanced to the next round. You can read more about their matches
here.
Big surprises
However, the surprises didn’t stop there—and not all were in favor of European players. Newly crowned world number ones and World Tour Finals champions from December, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, were unexpectedly knocked out in the first round. They fell to the newly formed Chinese Taipei pair Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Wang Chi-Lin. This was the first tournament for Wang Chi-Lin, a double Olympic champion, with his new partner, and they made a sensational debut by defeating the world number ones 21-16, 18-21, 22-20.
Another double Olympic champion, Viktor Axelsen, also suffered a shock exit after losing to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu. Axelsen has been struggling with an injury that kept him out of the World Tour Finals, and while it’s unclear if he has fully recovered, it was evident that he was not playing at his usual level.
On the brighter side, the young Danish men’s doubles pair Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard delivered an outstanding performance, defeating world number 3 and home favorites Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 21-15, 9-21, 21-18. The Danes will face the Popov brothers in the second round in an all-European clash.
Tough draw
Meanwhile, Line Christophersen and the English mixed doubles pair Gregory and Jenny Mairs faced top-seeded opponents but were unable to mount a significant challenge in their matches, which ended decisively in favor of their opponents.
Heavy rain in Malaysia has caused water issues on two of the three courts, leading to significant delays throughout the day. Among the remaining European players still to compete are the Ukrainian women’s doubles pair Polina Buhrova/Yevheniia Kantemyr, Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen, and the men’s doubles team Rasmus Kjær/Frederik Søgaard.
Tomorrow's action
Tomorrow marks the second day of the first round, with more European stars set to take the court, including Kirsty Gilmour, Alex Lanier, Anders Antonsen, and the French mixed doubles pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.