Despite the hot weather, fans made a great welcome to the city’s top mixed doubles pair of Tang/Tse when they attended the session on Sunday. Fans brought T-shirts, team jersey, rackets and other supporting props in order to get their autographs. Many of them also gave the two players presents, encouraging them to do well in the next tournament, the China Masters. The pair thanked the fans, saying they felt very happy to get the support.
On Saturday, two men’s singles players, Lee Cheuk Yiu and Jason Gunawan attracted more than a hundred fans when they joined the autograph session. Standing in the front of the line was Ms Lai, who made an effort of reaching the venue half an hour before it started. She said she had been following Lee since the Paris Olympics because of Lee’s amazing skills. The first fan for Gunawan’s session was Mr Chan, who said the 21-year-old player had a good potential and wanted to cheer for Gunawan in person. “He is still very young and has plenty of room for improvement. I hope he can win trophies in future,” Chan said.
Star player Viktor Axelsen was eliminated in the first round but was in a happy mood when attending his autograph session on Friday, shaking hands with fans. The two-time Olympic champion communicated in fluent mandarin and English with fans and when he saw a pregnant woman in the line, he wished the baby a healthy life. When a young fan asked for his autograph, he encouraged the youngster to work hard to make improvements.
The two other sessions were held by reigning Asian men’s doubles champions Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia and a Denmark pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark, who captured a bronze medal at the recent World Championships. Astrup and Rasmussen were the 2023 Hong Kong Open champions but unfortunately, they exited in the opening round this year. While they thanked the support of the fans at the session, the two Danes also promised to come back next year for a better result.
