MS - Day 3 : Sensational CHOU Tien Chen !

Great men single matches today on Paris courts. CHOU Tien Chen won after an epic battle. Kento MOMOTA did an incredible come back. NG Ka Long Angus and WANG Tzu Wei were kick out before the quarter finals.

Match of the day : Brice LEVERDEZ vs CHOU Tien Chen

Paris crowd was on fire ! A 1h20 fight on court number 2 between Brice LEVERDEZ (N.37, France) and CHOU Tien Chen (N.4, Chinese Taipei). The match started well for the French man with a 3/0 and already the first applauses. But a lot of mistakes from the player of Creteil, especially when playing net shots, enabled the 2014 French Open winner to take the first set 21/16. However, the 9 times France champion came back with much more strength. A perfect way to illustrate the situation : LEVERDEZ’s fist in the air asking for public ovation after a devastating smash to lead 11/5. But until you reach 21, a set is never won in badminton. And LEVERDEZ made the same mistakes he did during the first set, enabling CHOU to equalize 16/16. Great rallies, great aggressive net shots, great show during the last points of set number 2. And it is LEVERDEZ who pushed his rival to an ultimate set (21/17). Crazy last set, the whole audience thought LEVERDEZ was going to win when he was leading 19/17. Nevertheless, CHOU was very solid to score 4 points in a row and crucified the French player. Standing ovation after the match, hug between the players, t-shirts exchanged : it was THE match of the day ! After the game, the Taiwanese congratulated Brice : “It was a very strong opponent, I lost against him so many times. He has a really strong attack and good skills. I watched a lot of videos of him playing to be able to do the same shots he does.” CHOU will be opposed tomorrow to Kenta NISHIMOTO (N.16, Japan), a former French Open finalist.

Momota has made it

After his impressive match yesterday against KIDAMBI Srikanth (N.15, India) question was : did the world champion recover to beat Rasmus GEMKE (N.12, Denmark) ? The first rallies of the match seemed to prove he did not. The world number 1 looked tired on court, taking some time to get up after his dives. As a result, the young Danish player lead by 11/4. This was the time Momota chose to come back. He won 9 out of the 11 next points : 13/13 ! From this tie, the game became very tough until 15/15. In this case, it is often the most experienced player who takes advantage of the situation. That is what happened and Momota took the first set : 21/19. With the confidence coming with the gain of the first set, the Denmark Open finalist was 5 points ahead at the interlude 11/6. Pushing Momota to play endless rallies, Gemke tried to come back on the second part but it was too late : 21/18 for the Japanese. After the game he revealed his secrets on how to win a set when you are losing 11/4 : “Nothing changed after the interlude, I just took point after point. Maybe I committed myself a little more.”. About his shape after 4 weeks of competition he added : “Of course I am tired, I played with the Japan national team. Then the Denmark Open. I play as much as I can and I should play my best. Each time I go to battle”. Another huge battle is waiting for him tomorrow against Shesar Hiren RHUSTAVITO (N.19, Indonesia) who defeated Brian YANG (Canada) 21/16 21/17.

NG Ka Long Angus was lacking of energy

He never lost against Kanta TSUNEYAMA (N.13, Japan) in 3 matches. But today, NG Ka Long Angus (N.9, Japan) couldn’t resist to the Japanese. The seeded number 8 looked tired in the first set. The 2019 Korea master winner quickly lead 11/7 at the interlude. Besides, he only let his opponent scoring 2 points to gain the first set 21/9. One could think the Hongkonger would come back with other intensions but the world number 13 kept him under pressure to lead once again 11/7 at the interlude. After the break, it was just like the first set. Indeed, NG Ka Long Angus seemed lack of energy to really play his game. Therefore, it is the Japanese who will fight against LEE Cheuk Yiu (N.17, Hong-Kong) for a place in semi-finals. Indeed, he battle against Thomas ROUXEL (France) 21/17 21/18 to gain his precious ticket to the next round.

HEO Kwanghee (N.34 KOREA) who had a one minute match against Axelsen yesterday qualified 21/10 21/18. A great performance against WANG Tzu Wei (N.11, Chinese Taipei). He will be challenged by Lakshya SEN (N.24, India) who won against LOH Kean Yew (N.40, Singapore).