Tuesday proved to be a difficult day for Europe’s athletes competing at the Japan Open. Many faced challenging draws and entered the court as clear underdogs, while others, who carried the weight of being favourites, failed to live up to expectations.
Only Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue, along with Christo Popov, managed to progress to Wednesday’s second round. Among those who fell short despite entering as favourites were Mads Vestergaard/Christine Busch, who lost to Hee Yong Kai Terry/Jin Yu Jia of Singapore, and second-seeded Anders Antonsen, who suffered a defeat at the hands of China’s Lei Lan Xi, ranked 31st in the world. The match ended 21-19 21-15 in favour of the Chinese player.
Some athletes were simply unfortunate with their draw. Kirsty Gilmour lost 21-15 21-18 to sixth seed and home favourite Tomoka Miyazaki. Mia Blichfeldt also faced a tough challenge against double world champion Akane Yamaguchi, who dominated the match from start to finish and won 21-9 21-12. Yamaguchi looked every bit like a title contender on home soil.
Toma Junior Popov also exited the tournament in the opening round. After he and his brother were knocked out of the men’s doubles on Monday, he suffered another defeat in men’s singles. However, he put up a strong fight, pushing Shi Yu Qi to three sets before ultimately losing 21-15 17-21 21-9.
The Stoeva sisters, who recently claimed the title at the Italian Open, were the last Europeans in action today. They lost to the third-seeded Malaysian duo Tan Pearly/Thinaah Muralitharan, who won 21-16 21-14.
That leaves just five European hopes remaining in the tournament. Tomorrow, Alex Lanier will face Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan. The two have met only once before, at the World Junior Mixed Team Championships in 2023, where Farhan won in straight sets. Much has changed since then, and Lanier enters the match as the clear favourite.
Christo Popov will meet Lei Lan Xi, the player who eliminated Anders Antonsen. It will be interesting to see if Popov can succeed where Antonsen fell short.
Frederik Søgaard/Rasmus Kjær will face a tough task against newly formed Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, who are playing their first tournament together at the Japan Open. Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, who have struggled to consistently find the high level they maintained throughout 2024, will take on Nur Mohd/Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia.
The last remaining Europeans, Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue, seeded seventh at the Japan Open, will face Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami/Sayaka Hobara. The Japanese pair were extremely convincing in their first-round win over Malaysia’s Wong Tien Ci/Lim Chiew Sien, which they took 21-9 21-8.
Matches begin during the night leading into Wednesday, with Gicquel/Delrue being the first Europeans on court in match number three.
