TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's top male shuttler, Chou Tien-chen (周天成), fell short in the Victor China Open 2024, losing to China's Weng Hongyang (翁泓陽) on Thursday (Sept. 19).
Chou, ranked No. 9 globally, was defeated 22-20, 18-21, 15-21, failing to advance to the quarterfinals.
Chou had faced off Weng, ranked No. 25, twice before, each securing one win. Their most recent encounter was at the 2024 Badminton Asia Championships, where Weng retired after losing the first game.
Chou praised his opponent's performance in an interview with the Central News Agency (中央社), saying he will keep practicing for the next competition.
Since the Olympics earlier this year, Chou has competed in four tournaments. His best performance was as a runner-up in the Yonex Open Japan. He also reached the semifinals in the Yonex Taipei Open and the quarterfinals in the LI-NING Hong Kong Open, but he exited in round 16 of this week's China Open.
Additionally, Olympic gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his mixed doubles partner Hsu Yin-hui (許尹鏸) were eliminated, losing 12-21, 10-21 to China's No. 2 seeds, Huang Dongping (黃東萍) and Feng Yanzhe (馮彥哲).