The YONEX Swiss Open 2021 second round saw four seasoned men’s pairs, including two 2016 Olympic medallists, fall to younger opponents.

Malaysians Low Hang Yee and Ng Eng Cheong were the stars of the day, nicking a massive upset by beating Chris Langridge/Marcus Ellis, bronze medallists four years ago in Brazil, 10-21 21-15 21-15 in 72 minutes – the round’s longest duel. At No.85, 73 places separate them and their fourth seeded opponents on the BWF World Rankings.

Veterans Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong could not emulate their compatriots, the Rio silver medallists and No.3 seeds failing to find a way past Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel in their 21-19 21-19 loss. Lamsfuss had earlier combined with Isabel Herttrich in mixed doubles to beat Chloe and Sam Magee.

The 26-year-old told Badminton Europe: “We had a good tactic to keep really disciplined until the end. We tried to put Goh to the back and give him a bad feeling and it worked pretty well.”

World junior champions Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin meanwhile, sent eighth seeds Ben Lane and Sean Vendy packing in 42 minutes, the surprise package of the Asian Leg winning 21-19 21-15.

The final tandem to bite the dust on the day were 2016 All England champions and world No.16 Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov. The Russians succumbed to Thailand’s world No. 83 pair Nipitphon Phuangphuapet/Tanupat Viriyangkura16-21 21-19 16-21.

OTHER UPSETS

Korea’s campaign in women’s singles ended after sixth seed Sung Ji Hyun surprisingly lost a 53-minute battle to 20-year-old Thai Phittayaporn Chaiwan.

In one of the day’s biggest results, men’s singles third seed Rasmus Gemke bowed out following a three-game defeat (18-21 21-17 13-21) to India’s Ajay Jayaram.

NOTABLE RESULTS

Singles

Jayaram will be joined in the quarterfinals today by three compatriots – Pusarla V. Sindhu, Sai Praneeth B. and Kidambi Srikanth. Fourth seed Kidambi however, allowed world No.50 Thomas Rouxel to steal a game in his 21-10 14-21 21-14 win.

Doubles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty had to play a rubber game for the second day running, this time pushed to their limits by Indonesians Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan. The 70-minute tussle finished 21-17 20-22 21-17 in favour of the second seeds.

FUN FACT

Low and Ng had never beaten a seeded pair on the HSBC BWF World Tour before yesterday.

DAY 3 RESULTS