Today is the first round of the group stage of the International Badminton ** Finals, and one of the Chinese men's doubles derbies caused a sensation. In the competition, world No. 1 Leung Wai Keng and Wang Chang were quiltedLiu Yuchenand Ou Xuanyi defeated 1-2 and suffered a black start. It was also the second upset of the day, and it was also the first round loss for the men's doubles world No. 1. Leung Wai Hang and Wang Chang rose to prominence in 2022 and it took just one year to reach the world No. 1 ranking and become one of the top men's doubles pairs. WhileLiu YuchenHe and Ou Xuanyi have been partnering since last year and have been on a standout note, winning the year-end finals last year and are currently ranked 8th in the world. The two pairs have played each other twice before, with the winners both coming out of Leung Wai Hang and Wang Chang. The results were unexpected.
At the beginning of the game, Leung Wai Hang's attack was fierce, but there were few direct scores, on the contrary, there were more mistakes. Let'sLiu Yuchenand Ou Xuanyi began to take the lead, and the score came to 11-6. And Leung Wai Hang and Wang Chang had very little change in rhythm, resulting in the whole game entering completelyLiu Yuchenand Ou Xuanyi's control. Liu YuchenHe and Ou Xuanyi continued to lead, and the score came to 19-15, and finally won the first game 21-18.
In the second game, Leung Wai Keng and Wang Chang started well, leading 9-2 through the advantage of fast connection. They will attack in successionLiu YuchenForced back to the midfield, reducing the pressure on the opponent in front of the net, and the score came to 13-5. Leung Wai Hang and Wang Chang managed to maintain their advantage and equalized the score at 21-16.
And in the third game,Liu YuchenOnce again, he showed excellent ability to play small balls in front of the net, scoring consecutive points and starting the game with 8-5. They kept changing the tempo and scored through small balls to make it 11-8. Liu Yuchenand Ou Xuanyi successfully maintained the advantage, and finally won the game 21-16, and the big score of the whole game was 1-2, which was an upset.
After losing this match, Leung Wai Keng and Wang Chang's road to promotion became difficult. Next, they will face world champions Xie Dingfeng and Su Weiyi, as well as Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi respectively. To win, they have to stay in winning form. There is no doubt that this will be a very challenging challenge.
In addition, in other competitions, women's singles world No. 1 An Seying also suffered an upset, losing 0-2 to Kim Jiaen, becoming the first big upset in this competition. And Tai Tzu Ying defeated Mariska 2-0Li ShaoxiHe Ha Na defeated Kim So-young and Kong Hee Yong 2-0, and Nami Matsuyama and Chiyang Shida beat Jongkong Pan and Rawinda 2-0. The results were largely in line with expectations, with only the defeats of Leung Wai Hang and Wang Chang surprising.
Overall, there was a big upset in today's Men's Doubles match, with world No. 1 Leung Wai Keng and Wang Chang losing in the first roundLiu Yuchenand Ou Xuanyi. This match also showed us the problems of Leung Wei Keng and Wang Chang in attack and rhythm, while the opponent used his advantage to successfully counterattack. The next matches will be even more difficult for Leung and Wong, as they will need to give their all to advance. For other matches, although women's singles world No. 1 Ahn Se Ying also lost, the other results were as expected. I hope that in the next competitions, the players can show better condition and strength, and bring more exciting games to the audience.