PETALING JAYA: Taiwan’s Wang Tzu-wei and Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen’s huge upset wins in the French Open prove that the duo can play the role of spoilers to the big guns ahead of the Paris Olympics.
World No. 27 Tzu-wei pulled off the biggest surprise in the French tourney so far when he stunned Denmark’s world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen 21-12, 21-17 in the second round at the Adidas Arena in Paris on Thursday.
It was the 29-year-old’s first victory over the Dane after losing all six of his past meetings.
Tzu-wei was over the moon after claiming the biggest win of his career so far.
“He’s world No.1, he’s really strong and I’ve never beaten him before,” said Tzu-wei in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“I was relaxed and tried to do my best on court, and I’m glad I did well today.
“He made some mistakes and I seized my chance. I didn’t let him feel comfortable at all,” added Tzu-wei, who plays reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand next.
A day earlier, Axelsen’s younger teammate and world No. 33 Johannesen toppled world No. 10 Lee Zii Jia 21-15, 21-19 in the opening round.
It was also the 22-year-old’s breakthrough win over Zii Jia after losing to the latter in their only previous encounter in last year’s German Open.
Indonesia’s Chico Aura, who is only one rung higher than Johannesen in the world rankings also caused a huge shock when he took down Japan’s World Championships silver medallist Kodai Naraoka in the first round.
Tzu-wei, Johannesen and Chico cannot make the cut for the Olympics this time as they are too far behind in the Race to Paris but they can make life difficult for those who are trying to qualify.
The trio’s victories are also good for the sport as it keeps the competition more interesting.
With the All-England coming up next Tuesday in Birmingham, the top players need to be wary of the trio and also other unfancied players, who will be inspired to pull off their own upsets.
