Vantaa: At the 2023 Arctic Badminton Open’s first round (Super 500 Series), boasting total prize money of US$420,000, the Malaysian duo of Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun, ranked World No. 23, stunned their fellow Malaysians and World No. 4, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, clinching the match 21-11, 21-18 in just 26 minutes.
The pairs previously clashed at the 2023 India Open on January 18, with Chia/Soh emerging victorious with a 23-21, 21-10 scoreline.
Up next for Man/Tee is a challenge against World No. 27 Keiichiro Matsui/Yoshinori Takeuchi.
In men’s singles, Malaysians Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong, who interestingly played concurrently today, outperformed Denmark’s Mads Christophersen and Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen, securing their places in the top 16.
Ranked as the eighth seed, Lee Zii Jia took a mere 31 minutes to best Christophersen, who stands 49th worldwide, with scores of 21-15, 21-16. He is slated to face off against Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in the upcoming round.
With Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, the world’s No. 1, bowing out of the competition, a shocking turn of events saw Thailand’s world champion, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, lost in the first round. He withdrew from his face-off with Chirsto Popov, when trailing 7-11 in the deciding set.
After their match-up in the recent Asian Games, Ng Tze Yong bested Wangcharoen, scoring 21-15, 21-16 in a 46-minute match on Wednesday. Nevertheless, Ng is bracing for a challenging duel on Thursday against Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen.
Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao also progressed to the second round, defeating Finland’s Joakim Oldorff 21-17, 22-20. Next for Leong is qualifier Arnaud Merkle from France, who pulled off a remarkable win against World No. 24 Lin Chun Yi from Taiwan, with scores of 21-13, 23-25, 21-16.
Other men’s singles athletes proceeding to round two include Denmark’s World No. 10 Anders Antonsen and China’s World No. 12 Lu Guangzu.
