By Milly McEvoy
Viktor Axelsen was knocked out in the first round as seeds tumbled on Day 2 of the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2025
Also departing are the mixed doubles second seeds Tang Jie Chen and Ee Wei Toh after they were beaten by Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja for the second tournament running.
The day had even begun with a shock as Yushi Tanaka got the better of eighth seed Kodai Naraoka in an all-Japanese men’s singles affair.
Axelsen was magnanimous in defeat as he lost 19-21 21-13 21-11 to Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei.
Lin claimed his first-ever win over the two-time men’s singles champions, triumphing in a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second.
Axelsen: This will be the golden age of badminton
The Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider, however, as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a famous victory.
Axelsen said: “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me.
“Today’s opponent played a fantastic game, it was disappointing but that is how it is.
“I just tried to survive in the match. There is always lot of pressure when I am here at the all England and every single day, and I got tense when my body was feeling bad and it affected my entire game.
“But no excuse for me, I lost to a better opponent and I think there is longer break waiting for me at this point and I’ll see if I can get my body back on track.”
Earlier in the men’s singles, Tanaka overpowered the world no.8 Naraoaka in the first and third games to take the win.
Wang Chang and Liang Wei Keng of China were also on the wrong side of an upset as the men’s doubles third seeds were beaten by Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia.
The defending champions made it safely through with the three-peat still on for Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
Top seeds Rasmussen and Astrup knocked out on Day One
The Indonesian pair needed a decider to beat Bo Yang Chen and Yi Liu 21-17 15-21 21-17 and will now face Min Hyuk Kang and Dong Ju Ki.
Ardianto said: “We aren’t thinking about winning three in a row, we are thinking about taking it step-by-step and focusing on our next match.
“Every opponent is tough, tomorrow we have the Korean pair who were the champions last week at the Orléans Masters, so we are just focussing on that match.”
Defending women’s doubles champions Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee advanced with a routine 21-9 21-4 win over Prita Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra of India.
Also reaching the second round were last year’s beaten finalists and the 2022 champions Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama of Japan.
The third seeds beat Julie Finne-Ipsen and Mai Surrow of Denmark 21-13 21-17.
Shida said: “I’m so glad to have been able to win the first match and I am glad to be able to play in this arena again at this tournament.
“The determination is everything. We have always had that strong determination the same as last year.
“We would like to pursue playing with that determination until the end of the tournament in this arena.”
In the women’s singles, top seed and 2023 winner An Se Young made serene progress with a 21-16 21-14 win over Fang Jie Gao of China.
An said: “Every game is precious so preparing physically as well as mentally is equally important. But more importantly I try to focus on myself.
“The All England is a very well-known tournament and every player dreams to be champion so it is important to focus on each game.”
Also advancing were former champion Yu Fei Chen and her Chinese compatriot and second seed Zhi Yi Wang who knocked out the two-time winner Nozomi Okuhara with a blistering 21-6 21-9 win.
England’s involvement on Day 2 came in the mixed doubles as Jenny and Greg Mairs secured a first-ever win in the main draw to continue their final tournament for at least one more round.
Estelle van Leeuwen’s debut ended in a narrow defeat, as she and Callum Hemming lost 17-21 21-12 21-19 to the fourth seeds Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang of Chinese Taipei.
However, Van Leeuwen believes she will be able to take the positives from her maiden appearance.
She said: “It was really fun to play at the All England for the first time, when they announced our names and the crowd went wild, I was like ‘oh wow!’
“I had to take a moment, I have never heard anything like that before and I am sure tomorrow I will be very pleased with that performance but right now it is a bit tough.”
Man of the moment Alex Lanier made it through in the men’s singles with a positive 21-10 21-18 win over Rasmus Gemke.
The Frenchman had triumphed at his home tournament the Orléans Masters to arrive in Birmingham full of confidence and it showed in his win.
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