Changzhou: Similar to Malaysia’s third seed Lee Zii Jia, Denmark’s second seed Viktor Axelsen and China’s fourth seed Li Shifeng were both eliminated in the first round of the China Open.
Highlights of Viktor Axelsen vs. Lei Lanxi in the 2024 China Open first round:
On Wednesday, the China Open continued with its first-round matches. China’s Lei Lanxi pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far, defeating Paris Olympic men’s singles champion Viktor Axelsen in a 2-1 match.
Just three days earlier, Lei had faced Axelsen in the final of the Hong Kong Open, where Axelsen secured a swift 2-0 victory. However, in their first-round encounter in Changzhou on Wednesday, it took 67 minutes to determine the winner. Lei overcame the two-time Olympic gold medalist 21-19, 17-21, 21-16.
This match mirrored their Hong Kong Open final, but unlike Lei’s heavy defeat in Hong Kong (9-21, 12-21), Lei secured his revenge on home soil with a tough win.
Lei took the first game 21-19, and in the second game, Axelsen pulled ahead from a 17-17 tie and won 21-17 to level the score at 1-1.
In the decisive third game, Lei began to build a lead after the 4-4 mark. Although Axelsen tried to catch up and closed the gap to 16-18, Lei won the next three points to seal the victory at 21-16.
After the match, Axelsen admitted that his opponent played better, saying, “I only arrived in Changzhou at 8 PM last night, so I was still a bit tired. My attacks weren’t very effective today, and my footwork wasn’t as sharp.”
Meanwhile, Lei Lanxi, 26 and ranked 28th in the world, commented, “Having faced him 3 days ago, I was more patient and balanced in my attack and defense this time. In our match 3 days ago, I was impatient and tried to score points too quickly. But he’s very strong, so today I focused on releasing all the pressure and going all out.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the tournament, Lei said, “It’s unbelievable to have beaten Axelsen today, so I’ll take it one match at a time and maintain this form.”
Earlier, China’s fourth seed Li Shifeng was also knocked out in the men’s singles first round, losing in straight sets (17-21, 18-21) to Taiwanese veteran Chou Tien-Chen, who will face China’s Weng Hongyang in the second round.
Elsewhere, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew needed three sets to defeat Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 21-17, 17-21, 21-12. Loh will face Denmark’s fifth seed Anders Antonsen in the round of 16 after Antonsen eliminated Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long 21-11, 21-17 in the first round.
The first round of the China Open also saw Taiwan’s World No. 4 women’s singles player Tai Tzu Ying suffer a shock exit in the women’s singles. Tai lost 14-21, 21-7, 19-21 to Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen in the round of 32.
Tai has been struggling with a knee injury for months. After reaching the semifinals at the Japan Open in August, she withdrew and skipped the Korea Open. She was knocked out in the quarterfinals at the Taipei Open and withdrew in the second round of the Hong Kong Open after just four minutes of play.
The 30-year-old is expected to retire at the end of this year, with the China Open being her last Super 1000 event.
Jakobsen will face Japan’s rising star, Tomoka Miyazaki, in the round of 16.
