Stunning Upset in China: Lei Lanxi Takes Down World No. 3 Anders Antonsen

Lei Lanxi upsets Anders Antonsen in China Open Badminton Championships 2024-09-19 11:08:00.0 Source: Xinhuanet Author: Wang Hengzhi

The first round of the 2024 Victor China Open Badminton Tournament continued on the 18th. Chinese player Lei Lanxi defeated the Paris Olympic men’s singles champion Viktor Axelsen 2:1, which was the biggest upset since the start of the tournament.

Lei Lanxi and Axelsen had just met in the final of the Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships on the 15th, with Axelsen winning 2:0. In Changzhou, the two met in the first round, and the battle lasted for 67 minutes before the winner was decided. Lei Lanxi defeated the men’s singles champion of the Tokyo and Paris Olympics with 21:19, 17:21 and 21:16.

After the match, An Se-young admitted that his opponent played better: “I only arrived in Changzhou at 8 o’clock last night, and I still feel a little tired. My attack was not very good in today’s match, and my footwork was not flexible enough.”

Lei Lanxi said: “The second time I play against him, I will do better in terms of offense, defense and patience. The first time I played against him, I was not patient enough and wanted to break through him in one or two shots. But he is very strong. Today, the main thing is to mobilize myself to fight him and release all the pressure.” Looking forward to the subsequent games, he said that he would fight one game at a time. “Today’s fight with Anders Antonsen was incredible. I think I will fight one game at a time and maintain this state in the future.”

Axelsen is also the third top four seed to be eliminated in this tournament. In a match earlier that day, fourth seed, Chinese player Li Shifeng lost to Chinese Taipei star Chou Tien-chen 17:21, 18:21. In the match on the 17th, third seed, Malaysian star Lee Zii Jia was defeated. Currently, the only top four seed in the men’s singles is Chinese player Shi Yuqi, who is ranked first in the world.

In other matches on the same day, the mixed doubles pair of Huang Dongping/Feng Yanzhe, the men’s doubles pair of He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu, the men’s singles pair of Weng Hongyang, and the women’s singles pair of Zhang Yiman also advanced. The second round of competition will be held on the 19th to determine the top eight in each event.