The second day of this year’s Super 1000 tournament, Malaysia Open, is well underway, with many matches still to be played. However, we’ve already seen some exciting clashes featuring European players.
Due to heavy rainfall in Kuala Lumpur, the roof of the Axiata Arena Stadium couldn’t completely keep out the water, leaving some courts unplayable yesterday. As a result, several matches from yesterday’s schedule were postponed to today.
Nail-biting matches
On the other courts, plenty of high-quality badminton is being played, and today has already delivered its first major upset.
Toma Junior Popov put on a phenomenal performance, defeating 3rd seed Jonathan Christie from Indonesia with a scoreline of 21-8, 12-21, 26-24. In the second round, Popov will face NG Ka Long Angus from Hong Kong.
Anders Antonsen continued his impressive streak, securing a convincing victory over Wang Tzu Wei from Chinese Taipei, 21-17, 21-10.
Unfortunately, there were also some close matches that didn’t go Europe’s way.
Alex Lanier’s first match of the year was an intense and closely fought battle against former world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand. In a match full of momentum shifts, Vitidsarn edged out Lanier 21-11, 12-21, 23-21.
Kirsty Gilmour also had a tough first-round loss to China’s Gao Fang Jie, currently ranked 18th in the world. The match ended 19-21, 21-19, 21-13 in favor of Gao.
Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, who finished 2024 in great form, seem to have carried that momentum into 2025. Today, they convincingly defeated Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch, 21-9, 21-12.
With many matches still to come, several European players are yet to take the court. You can view today’s full schedule here, or stay updated via Badminton Europe’s social media channels.