HANGZHOU, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) — Men’s and girls’s singles world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and An Se-young of South Korea each misplaced their opening matches on the 2023 BWF World Tour Finals right here on Wednesday.
Defending champion Axelsen was defeated 21-19, 21-19 by dwelling favourite Shi Yuqi, whom he had crushed eight instances in a row. The Chinese pocketed the Group A win in 51 minutes.
“I made lots of errors today and I lost confidence on the court, but I still hope I can enter the semifinals,” commented the disillusioned Dane, a two-time Finals winner.
Shi stated he was very concentrated through the match, which helped him keep away from unforced errors. “For the upcoming matches, I believe the mentality is the most important.”
In the opposite match of group A, Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting rallied from one set all the way down to beat Japan’s Kodai Naraoka 10-21, 21-10, 21-18.
In Group B, Anders Antonsen of Denmark breezed previous China’s Li Shifeng, whereas Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie edged newly-crowned world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, each in straight units.
In the ladies’s singles Group A, 21-year-old An, who was named the Women’s Player of the Year simply two days in the past, went all the way down to her teammate Kim Ga-eun 21-18, 21-18.
“Of course I want to win all the competitions, but I haven’t trained enough lately. I’m almost recovered now. I need to strengthen my training and adjust myself to a better form,” stated An, who was plagued with a knee harm in current months.
An will subsequent tackle Indonesian contender Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who was upset by Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei 21-18, 21-17.
In Group B, Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei took 63 minutes to beat compatriot Han Yue, whereas Spanish veteran Carolina Marin swept Zhang Beiwen of the United States 21-18, 21-10.
Men’s and girls’s doubles defending champions Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi and Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan, each from China, claimed victories over fellow nationals respectively.
Another Chinese pair Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong bested Tang Chun-man/Tse Ying-suet of Hong Kong, China 21-17, 21-17 within the combined doubles.
As badminton’s season-ending event, the BWF World Tour Finals options prime eight gamers/pairs from this season in every of the 5 classes within the World Tour rankings. They are divided into two teams, and the highest two gamers/pairs will advance to the semifinals.