“LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2025 part of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500” continued at the Hong Kong Coliseum on Thursday with home favourites Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet reaching the Mixed Doubles quarter-finals after overcoming a young Danish pair of Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch in straight games 21-16, 21-19.
They will now meet Adnan Maulana and Indah Cahya Sari Jamil of Indonesia for a spot in the last four. The latter stunned fourth seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand after an hour-long battle when the unseeded pair prevailed 21-17, 18-21, 21-13.
World number five Tang/Tse pair overcame their Malaysian opponents after three games in the opening match and Tse did shed a few tears after the victory, apparently for the pressure after a hard-fought result. However, having adjusted their mentality after the first match, the pair was back in business. Even if they might not be at their best, they gave the young Danish pair, who clinched a bronze medal at the European Championships this year, a good lesson for a straight game win.
Tse, who did not respond to media questions after the first match, said their form improved and their emotion was better. “Perhaps we have accumulated too much pressure before the tournament but fortunately it was well released after the first match. We played much better today although we have still yet to perform to our best,” she said.
Tse said they had been troubled by a lack of confidence and adaptation to new tactics. “We have had some very good new coaches who have brought us many new ideas and tactics. We are still adapting to these changes and may not be able to fully meet their requirements, making the situation a bit difficult for us. But we know we must resolve these problems and overcome this transition period.”
Tang also acknowledged the problems but since they had a very hectic schedule, they might have to discuss with the coaches after next week’s China Open.
The fifth seeds also thanked the support of the home crowd and was delighted to see more and more fans come to watch them, hopefully helping them make it to the final on Sunday.
There were many upsets as the tournament progressed. In the Women’s Doubles, unseeded pair Rui Hirokami/Sayaka Hobara of Japan pulled off the biggest surprise so far as they disposed top seeds and reigning world champions Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ling of China after three games.
It looked like another routine for the two Mainlanders after they took the first game 21-12, but then the Japanese pair, who ranks 67th in the world, came back strongly to win the next two 21-19, 21-16 and the match to advance to the quarter-finals. However, second seeds and defending champions Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah of Malaysia found no difficulty of reaching the last eight with a well-deserved 21-18, 21-17 win over their Indonesian opponents.
Kodai Naraoka of Japan, who ousted two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the Men’s Singles first round, exited as the fifth seed lost to Shetty Ayush of India after three games. The unseeded Indian won 21-19, 12-21, 21-14 to set up an all-India quarter-finals against Lakshya Sen.
Also securing a last eight spot was third seed Chou Tien-Chen of Chinese Taipei who brushed aside Kiran George of India 21-6, 21-12 while second seed Li Shi Feng of China also made no mistake with a 21-12, 21-19 win over Koki Watanabe of Japan.
In the Women’s Singles, third seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand ended her hopes after a gruelling battle of 80 minutes when she was beaten by Michelle Li of Canada after three games 21-12, 19-21, 23-21. Joining Li to the quarter-finals would be fourth seed Tomoka Miyasaki of Japan who beat compatriot Riko Gunji in straight games 21-13, 21-18.
