On March 15, the first day of the All England Open badminton tournament ended, and the competition broke out three major upsets. Men's singles world champion Luo Jianyou lost 1-2 to Zhao Junpeng, suffering a round of swimming. In the women's singles competition, world champions Indanon and Okuhara hoped to be upset at the same time, and the two missed the second round. In the men's doubles competition, Tokyo Olympic champions Li Yang/Wang Qilin were also in poor form, losing 1-2 to the Malaysian pair Wang Yaoxin/Zhang Yuyu for a round.
Unpopular one, men's singles, Luo Jianyou 1-2 Zhao Junpeng
Luo Jianyou exploded at the 2021 World Championships, defeating the invincible Anselon in the first round, and has since gone all the way to win the championship. Since then, Luo Jianyou, his rapid playing style has become his killer feature, and the world ranking once reached the second place in the world. He is one of the top men's singles players today.
Zhao Junpeng is a little nerve knife, although there are occasional big outbreaks, but most of the time it is a round or two, there are no surprises. This year's races have had dismal results. Few people are optimistic about his match with Luo Jianyou.
In today's game, Zhao Junpeng was well prepared, and he had a very good prediction of Luo Jianyou's speed, and most of them were prevented. After preventing it, Zhao Junpeng continued to compete with Luo Jianyou for small balls in front of the net, directly causing Luo Jianyou to collapse. In the end, the two sides fought in three sets, and Zhao Junpeng defeated Luo Jianyou 21-16, 16-21, 21-7 and successfully advanced to the second round.
Upset two, women's singles, 2 world champions in one round
Indanon once broke the monopoly of the Chinese women's singles and won the world championship at the age of 19, opening the offensive era of the women's singles. In 2022, Indanon returned strongly, and basically reached the quarterfinals, which is a common occurrence, and won 2 championships.
In the first round, Indanon faced teammate Chaiwan, and she was unanimously optimistic about her before the game. Indanon was not in good shape today, with constant offensive mistakes and a small ball advantage not being played, losing two consecutive games 16-21, 17-21, and suffering a round of miserable play.
Okuhara hopes to be the first Japanese player to win the women's singles world championship, and she is the one who brought Japan into the ranks of the women's singles team. However, in the past two years, due to the impact of injuries, there is a big gap between it and the peak period. In the first round, her opponent was Thailand's Lee Meimiao. The two are equal in strength, and it is possible to think that Okuhara will lose before the game, but he definitely did not expect that it would be this score to lose. Okuhara hoped to be completely unable to compete with his opponent, and lost 11-21, 15-21, and missed the second round.
Unpopular three, men's doubles, Olympic champion round trip
At the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese Taipei pair of Li Yang/Wang Qilin made a splash and finally won the men's doubles championship. The two have remained at a high level for some time after that, and after the second half of 2022, their form has declined, and both have tried different partners to compete.
In the first round, Li Yang/Wang Qilin faced the Malaysian pair Wang Yaoxin/Zhang Yuyu. Li Yang/Wang Qilin did not have the speed of the peak, and there was also a gap in attack and strength. In the first game, they made full use of the tactics of pressing the front seal and won easily 21-12. However, after Wang Yaoxin/Zhang Yuyu picked up speed, Li Yang/Wang Qilin couldn't keep up with their opponents, losing two consecutive games 16-21, 18-21, and 1-2 out, missing the second round.
It is difficult for the current Li Yang/Wang Qilin to return to the peak, and the best way is to split and find a partner again. Chinese Taipei's Li Zhehui/Yang Boxuan combination has already played, and there are not many opportunities after the Olympic champion.