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What is Gosen badminton racquets and badminton equipment?

Gosen badminton equipment and racquets

Gosen badminton racquets, strings, and accessories are made by the Osaka-based company Gosen. Similar to Felet, Gosen is relatively unknown in Europe, but seems to be widely available in most Asian countries.

Here are some facts about the Japan based badminton equipment manufacturer.

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Gosen’s journey from fishing tackle to badminton strings

Gosen began operating in 1951. Its original product was nylon synthetic thread. While initially focused on the fishing industry, Gosen quickly began developing strings suitable for badminton and tennis. You can see a timeline of major Gosen developments here.

In 1958, the company started exporting synthetic strings for racquets. Soon thereafter, they developed the longest-selling racquet string – the HY-SHEEP – still available today in certain markets. In 1985, Gosen strings were officially approved by the Indonesian Badminton Association.

By 1996, Gosen was the only badminton string the International Badminton Federation (now BWF) approved.

Gosen innovations benefiting badminton players

Nowadays, Gosen offers a wide selection of badminton equipment, but their claim to excellence is mostly associated with badminton strings. Throughout its history, the company has been very innovative in general.

In 2001 they adopted the super alloy “AERMET” in strings and rackets for the first time in the world, and in 2005 they adopted nano-technology in strings “NANOCUBICⓇ” for the first time ever. In 2007 they developed and launched the R4X badminton string with revolutionary Quattro-Fiber.

Given that the company is involved with the development and manufacturing of strings for three specific areas – namely badminton, fishing, and tennis – we assume that they can extract a lot of synergies, which in turn enables the company to come up with a slew of innovations.

Excellence in badminton strings and stringing techniquesthe Haribito focus

Pictured is Haruhiko Yashiro – the Gosen contracted professional stringer – also referred to as the String Meister

There is one area where Gosen stands out from the competition. And that’s in the area of art and science of stringing. They are dedicated to being world-class in the manufacturing of strings as well as in the art of stringing.

Haribito is a Japanese term meaning “doctor of strings”. The company regularly holds stringing clinics and seminars. There is a section on their website dedicated to Haribito – or, if you will, the art and science of stringing.

Interestingly, most leisure and intermediate badminton players don’t pay too much attention to the features and quality of their strings. This may be because the difference in strings is too technical to understand.

Our advice, however, is to do more than just superficial research to understand the difference in badminton strings, the power of strings, the durability of strings, and the players’ ability to control the shuttle when it hits the string.

The whole gamut in badminton equipment and accessories

Gosen has developed its range of badminton equipment and accessories to include badminton racquets, shoes, shuttlecocks, clothing, and common accessories.

Online reviews of, say, Gosen badminton rackets are generally positive. Since we haven’t reviewed any Gosen products yet, we are hesitant to offer an opinion about the quality of their products.

We intend to review products from all badminton brands at some point in the future. Stay tuned.

Get news on Gosen and many more badminton brands

When you become part of our badminton community, you will automatically get new information once you are subscribed to our badminton newsletter.

Indonesia Masters 2025 Men’s Doubles preview and predictions

Indonesia Masters 2025 world tour poster

The BWF World tour keeps on rolling. Lets not forget last weeks India Open. Our pick of local favourite Rankireddy and Shetty did not go to plan as they lost a tight semifinal to third seed Malaysian Meastros Sze Fei Goh and Nur Izzuddin. They claimed the title with a ruthless showing in the final. Won Ho KIM and Seong Jae SEO, who claimed the Malaysia open title the week before, were second best on the day losing to the focused Malaysians 21-15 13-21 21-16.

The hard hitters of badminton are now destined for Jakarta to compete in the Indonesia Masters 2025.

Mee the Qualifiers at the Indonesia Masters 2025

As with all 500 tournaments qualifying provides lower ranked players an opportunity to earn a place in the main draw. This is super important to help less established players to progress in the rankings, earn money and test themselves against the very best. Many will say qualifying is boring or not needed. We disagree! More stories and more opportunity is great!

Indonesians INDRA and RINDORINDO came out on top in a close game with Kang and Tai of Malaysia. The local pair are ranked at 78 in the world and did well in lower level tournametns last season. They reached 3 finals last season including the Indonesia Masters in November. This would suggest they are trending in the right direction. Could they go further? It’s unlikely. This is the first tournament above a 100 they have competed plus their R32 match is against a strong and expereinced thai pair. Good experience for them though.

Lim and Wong of Malaysia came through their match against Thai pair Charoenkitamorin and Thongsa-Nga. The world ranked 64 pair had an easy time of it controlling the match well. The Malaysians only reached one final in 2024 at Challenge level, this would indicate they are off the pace of the other tour palyers. It also looks very bleak with home town stars Alfian and Ardianto waiting in the R32. A definite loss in our book.

Are these Japanese pairs dangerous?

Two Japanese pairs were able to crush the hopes of two german pairs in the other match ups. Midorikawa and Yamashita are ranked 132 in the world. This isn’t the whole story though as Midorikawa is ranked 12th in mixed doubles with Natsu Saito. Yamashita has not had the same success, Yet! They are through to the R32 against Huang and Liu of China ranked 73 in the world. This is a great opportunity for the japanese pair to gain some huge points utilising Midorikawa’s experience. We can see them get to the R16 in Jakarta.

Their compatriots Shibata and Yamada are ranked 70 in the world. They easily progressed against the German pair Geiss and Voelker. They are drawn against a very strong Taipei pair, Fang-Chih LEE and Fang-Jen LEE. In our estimation this will be too much for the Japanese pair who will lose out at the R32.

Will the Seeds win the title?

In Jakarta we are missing the top 3 ranked pairs in the world. This makes Indonesian pair Alfian and Ardianto the top seeds for the tournament. They are followed by Chia and Soh of Malaysia, 5th ranked in the world. Unfortuantely there are more ommissions behind them meaning 6 of the top 10 are out of the event, surely disappointing for the fans but possibly exciting for their rivals. Even with this, the big story in jakarta is Ahsan and Setiwan playing their final tournametn before retirement, could that spur them on to a last win?

Alfian and Ardianto have had a tough start to 2025 with a R32 and R16 loss to their names. They have generally struggled in Indonesia and this poor form could see that continue here. We don’t think they will claim the title in Jakarta. Xie and Zhang of China will pose a huge threat to them as well as Rankireddy and Shetty who have performed well so far this season.

The second seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik have had a patchy start to 2025 with a R16 defeat and Semifinal defeat to good pairs. They will have more hope of clinching the title than the Indonesian’s. Their R32 draw is favourable against the Danish pair Boe and Kjaer. The biggest danger we see for the Malaysians are their Indonesian rivals Fikri and Marthin and the aging Ahsan and Setiawan. Chia and Soh will be motivated to improve their semifinal finish from the India open last week so we are confiden they will perform well.

Could Rankireddy and Shetty build on a good start to 2025?

The Indian stars, Rankireddy and Shetty, had a good India Open making the semifinal on home ground. We all know they have great pedigree having been world number ones and in the top 10 for a few years now. Their draw in Indonesia is good, the Taipei pair in the R32 won’t give them too many problems. Likewise either R16 opponent should be an easy match for the Indians. To us the Chinese Taipei pair Chiu and Wang are going to be the biggest problem for Rankireddy and Shetty on their side of the draw. They beat Alfian and Ardianto the last 3 times they palyed and they have an even record last season against Chia and Soh.

Could the other seeds turn their bad starts around?

The rest of the top seeds don’t inspire confidence for us. There is Gutama and Isfahani of Indonesia who are seeded 6th. They were beaten by the English pair Lane and Vendy in Malaysia, a poor start to the season. In 2024 they ended the year with a finals at the China Masters and a 3rd place at the tour finals. A good sign but they are still inconsistent in our opinion.

Lee and Yang of Chinese Taipei are 3rd seeds have had a poor start to the year. Only a R32 and R16 finish so far which shows us they are in bad form. We doubt they will make it far in Jakarta as well, especially facing a Malaysian pair with the ability to take out hgiher ranked pairs. To round off the seeds we have Kang and Kim of Korea. A quarterfinal and R16 finish so far is ok for the new Korean pair who are seeded on notional ranking. They have been overshadowed by their compatriots KIM and SEO in the first two tournaments. Kang and Kim don’t look settled yet as a pair so we can’t see them going too far in Indonesia. We are looking for a stand out result from them to be able to beleive they can hit the same heights as their compatriots.

Will an unseeded pair make some waves?

There are a couple of options that make sense to watch out for in Jakarta. There are six Malaysian pairs outside of the seeding in Indonesia, at least one of those will breakthrough. We favour Man and Tee, ranked 13th. A really split start of the season a semifinal and R32 finish but did show last year at the indonesia Open they are capable of big things.

The Taipei pair of Chiu Hsiah Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin have taken a big victory already this year dropping Astrup and Rasmussen in Malaysia. Unfortuantely they don’t seem to have good stamina or consistency as they then get taken out themselves in the R16. This is a new partnership though so it will come in time. The signs are good though. We think these two could put together a good run but it’s unlikely they will go all the way. A quarterfinal against Rankireddy and Shetty is likely to go the Indian’s way.

We also like the Taipei pair of Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jin Lee, they have a consistent start with two Quarter final finishes in 2025. They also have some good victories in their past few competitions like Chia and Soh. They really struggled last season rarely getting past the R16 but this looks to be changing now with some good wins. The Indonesia masters would be a good stage to make a statement of intent. We beleive they have a favourable draw to the semifinal wiht pairs they can beat. Watch out for these two, they are undervalued right now.

Who are the Dark Horses at the Indonesia Masters?

This week there is only one name you can pick for Dark Horses, Ahsan and Setiawan, The Daddies! Yes they had a tough year last year and they have been somewhat left behind by the younger pairs coming through. You can’t forget how incredible they have been throughout their careers and they have a hug incentive to play well in Jakarta as a farewell to the fans. We think they will be focused and rested for their last tournament together. At Badminton Speak we always want a good story to get behind and this is one of those!

Final predicaions for the Indonesia masters Mens Doubles

Our pick for the winner of the Men’s Doubles is Rankireddy and Shetty!

Our pick as an outside favourite would be Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jin Lee!

Indonesia Masters 2025 Women’s Singles Preview and Predictions

Indonesia Masters 2025 world tour poster

The action continues this week on the BWF world tour as Jakarta hosts the Indonesia Masters, the first 500 event of the season. So far An Se Young has dominated with 2 titles from two competitions. Luckily for her competition she won’t be attending the Indonesia Masters this year. So who will take this opportunity to add a title to their cabinet?

The first qualification opportuntiy of the year!

Some might say they don’t like qualifications in tournaments. It’s lower ranked lesser-known players. At badminton Speak we disagree. We love to see the younger players coming through. It’s an opportunity for an upset and gives hope to lower ranked players to gain ranking points. It means more stories and unique players to invest our attention into.

The Indonesia Masters is the first 500 event of the season so the first chance for those lower-ranked players to qualify. These matches all took place on the Tuesday with the main draw commencing Wednesday.

Indonesia Masters 2025 qualification draw and results.

How do the qualifiers measure up?

It is good to see a young local player getting through qualification. Indonesian, Chiara Marvella Handoyo, is only 19 years old ranked at 83. The 2023 BWF Jr World champion runner-up competed well last season at lower-level competitions. The most significant of these was probably her runner-up finish at the Indonesia International Challenge last August, she fought through five 3-set matches to claim a medal in Indonesia. She is in our list of players to watch out for in 2025!

Malaysian, Karupathevan Letshanaa, is 21 and ranked at 59. She had a strong year in 2024 picking up a second and third place finish at the 100 and Challenge level. Tanya Hemanth of India is the world number 58 at 21 years old. In a tough 2024 where she largely lost in the R32 she did have two highlights picking up a runner-up finish at the Polish Open and Azerbaijan International. She lost out to compatriots both times in the final, we are sure she feels she has a lot to prove against her national rivals.

Keisha Fatimah Azzahra is somewhat underrated currently. The Young Olympian from Azerbaijan had a number of good results in 2024 reaching 3 finals at pre tour level. She stuggled much more at tour level taking losses in R32 on most occassions.

The Main draw

With so many of the Women’s singles players retiring or out injured the Indonesia Masters 2025 draw feels quite weak. The top two ranked players in the competition are Gregoria Tunjung of Indonesia – WR 5 and Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan – WR 7. This will mean the competition is more about finding the players who can take advantage of the opportunity, who is ruthless enough to take those higher-ranking positions.

Indonesia Masters 2025 Womens Singels badminton draw. Can home favourite Gregoria Tunjung win on home ground?

The outlook for the top seeds?

Gregoria Tunjung is the top seed in Jakarta. So far this season she has a semifinal finish losing out to An Se Young and a R32 finish in Malaysia, losing out to compatriot Putri Wardani. Her last two tournaments in Indonesia ended in the Quarter-final, this could indicate that she is uncomfortable with the rising expectations in the later round of competition in front of her home fans. We expect she will make the semi-final where it is likely she will meet compatriot Putri Wardani. That would be a 50/50 matchup to get to the final, a great match for the local fans.

Tomoka Miyakazi is the second seed in Indonesia. She has also had a rather split start to the season. The 18 year old Japanese prodigy, like Tunjung, has a semifinal and R32 finish so far. She lost out to Blichfeldt and Chochuwong. In her last 8 tournaments of 2024 she earned 6 podium finishes! Miyazaki faces Indian youngster Santhosh Ramraj in R32, a simple match for her. Her route to the final should be assured as she hold wins over all the competitors she will face such as Intanon and PV Sindhu. The only trouble could come in the form of Fang Jie Gao.

Could the third or fourth seed challenge them?

Yeo Jia Min joins her rivals as the third seed in Jakarta. The Singaporean has been much more consistent with two QF finishes only losing to the top two ranked players. Both of those players are not playing in Jakarta this week, so perhaps she will progress further. She hasn’t been able to progress past the QF of tour events for about a year. We think her tournament will come to an end in the QF in Jakarta against Gregoria Tunjung.

The fourth seed in Jakarta is Pornpawee Chochuwong, the Thai world number 8. She is coming off the back of a great performance in India where she lost the final to An Se Young. Chochuwong could be one of those benficieries of the top ranked women not competing. She had good results in 2024, a variety of finishes with finals, semi-final and quarter-final finishes. She will want to upgrade her almost victories in Jakarta to stand atop the podium. Chochuwang is part of the tougher side of the draw. Azzahra in the first round could be tricky but Chochuwong should have enough. She will face Wardani in the QF, but with a 7-0 H2H Chochuwong should progress. We can see her doing well here. The only problem could be fatigue.

Unseeded challengers at Indonesia Masters 2025!

At Badminton Speak we really appreciate a good dark horse. An unexpected run from an outsider that shake up the existing order. How likely are we to get that in Indonesia?

Ratchanok Intanon, the former top ranked Thai player is now only the 4th best Thai player and outside the top 10. She has been competing well with only An Se Young stopping her so far this season. Intanon wont be afraid of any player in Jakarta thoguh Nidaira would be tricky in the R16. Gao would give her problems in the QF but it is an even match up and Tunjung in a possible final would be very difficult for Intanon.

Gao Fang Jie has a good opportunity in Indonesia to find her form again. She ended 2024 strong with a first and second place finish. Gao will now be wondering if that was just good form or whether she can actually play at that level more regularly. She has a more favourable side of the draw that gives her a great opportunity to progress. A semifinal between Gao and Miyazaki would be great to see.

Could an indonesian player take the Indonesia Masters crown?

We have already covered Tunjung as the top seed in Jakarta. However, her compatriot Putri Wardani has already beaten her once this season in the R32 in Malaysia. She could pose a real threat to Tunjung in the semifinal. That would ensure an Indonesian in the final!

This is a realistic outcome as Wardani has a good run to the QF. Yu Po Pai followed by Sugiyama then she would meet Chochuwong in the QF. The Thai shuttler has a 7-0 H2H over Wardani, the only thing that could save her is fatigue for Chochuwong or the support of the crowd pushing her on.

We also see Dewi take to the court in the first round against Sugiyama of Japan. This the first meeting of the pair who have similar results over the last year. A close match but Sugiyama will take this one sending Dewi out in the R32. In addition to Dewi, nineteen year old Handoyo will compete against Taipei’s Pin-Chian Chiu. It is tough to guage Handoyo’s current level as she transitions to senior level competition. The crowd should help her in Jakarta and get a first round win. Unfortuantely after this she will almost certainly be knocked out by Tomoka Miyazaki in the R16.

Our dark horse for the Indonesia masters.

This is a tough section for the Indonesia Masters 2025. There are no candidates that stand out as over looked or outsiders that could cause some upsets. Line Christophersen for example would be a candidate but we just don’t feel she has shown any signs that she can over come the higher level opponents. Thuy Linh Nguyen could be another option but again she has not shown the ability to cause upsets. She has generally had R32 exits in tour events and beaten by promising younger players. Lauren Lam is another name you could mention for this prediction. Again she has not shown any signs of moving up or odd wins against higher-ranked opponents. It is very unlikely that she will cause any upsets.

The two best shots for a Dark Horse in Jakarta is going to be Sim Yu Jin of Korea. This is her first tournament of the year, she beat Yeo Jia Min in their last match and the Korean also had a few great results towards the end of 2024 with semifinal finishes at the 500 level. She is ranked 26th so not a total outside chance, she has started to prove her level already.

On the other hand Azzahra of Azerbaijan, who came through qualifying, could be a total outside chance. Young with a couple of positive signs last season without breaking through. This could be her breakout year. She has a very tough first round match with Chochuwong. Normally this would be no question but the Thai player was in the final of the India Open 2 days before this match. If Chochuwong can’t deal with the travel and fatigue I think Azzahra could sneak a victory and even win her R16 match whihc would be easier than Chochuwong.

Final predictions!

Winner of the Womens singles: Tomoka Miyakazi!

Dark horse of the Indonesia Masters: Sim Yu Jin!

Indonesia Masters 2025 Preview and Predications – Men’s Singles

Indonesia Masters 2025 world tour poster

The next stop on the HSBC Badminton World Tour is the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta! The third event of the year is a 500 event which means fewer top 20 players but includes qualifying for a few lower-ranked players.

First to deal with qualifying!

We will keep it short and sweet with these predictions. In the first matchup, we see Takuma Obayashi beating Zheng Xing Wang. Obayashi’s experience will carry him past his Chinese opponent. The second match-up will see Indonesian Alwi Farhan beat Hyeok Jin Jeon to progress to the main draw. Farhan is 1-0 up on H2H and will be in front of his home crowd. The third match-up will see Nhat Nguyen beat Kantaphon Wangcharoen, Nguyen is up 1-0 on H2H. The final Qualifier will be won by Kiran George over compatriot Srikanth Kidambi. They have never played on tour but the young star has more momentum and recent results.

Who will win the Indonesia Masters 2025 title?

There are only a few absentees from Jakarta. India Open champion Viktor Axelsen is missing, Lee Zii Jia is recovering from his ankle injury, Koki Watanabe is out, Toma Jr Popov and Christo Popov have returned to France. So this is a strong draw for the Indonesia Masters 2025.

Anders Antonsen is the reigning champion of the Indonesia Masters. This year he is the second seed with a tough draw to the final. Ka Long Angus NG in the R32 is tricky as NG is capable of pulling off big upsets. Anders is ahead on H2H 3-1 in 2024. If he did progress he would likely face Lei Lan Xi of China followed Li Shi Feng of China, two very tricky players for Anders. It is worth noting that Anders missed the India Open though so will be well rested compared to his rivals. He has a good chance at retaining his title.

Shi Yu Qi finds himself at the top of the draw again, this time with the luxury of a qualifier in the first round. Whichever qualifier that is Shi Yu Qi should easily win that match, especially with his week rest. Shi will likely have a simple route to the semifinal, even the final. His likely route is a qualifier, Layshya Sen and Chou Tien Chen to get to the semifinal. these are very winnable games for Shi Yu Qi. We can see him going all the way to the final.

Outside the top two seeds?

Chou Tien Chen is an outside favourite for us. He has played well in both Malaysia and India, one of the most consistent players on the tour. He beats the players he is expected to but very rarely beats those considered a higher level. If he can find some inspiration and get past Shi Yu Qi then he could go all the way.

Li Shi Feng has had a mixed time so far, with a semifinal in Kuala Lumpur and R32 defeat in Delhi. The extra rest time with the early exit in India could give him an edge in Jakarta. In addition, the world number six does generally perform well in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Whether that is down to the fans or the climate, who knows, but competing somewhere he has performed well before will surely help him. He has a good draw with a qualifier in the first round which may give him some needed confidence after India. We like his chances.

Could we see the local players perform well?

There are three Indonesian players in the draw, all are in the bottom half. At least one of them should reach the semi-final as they find themselves drawn together in the same bracket. The best shot for Indonesia is Jonatan Christie. The Indonesian has been in incredible form since the All England in 2024 commonly reaching the semifinal of world tour events. There aren’t very clear patterns to assess for Christie, no correlation in pressure levels and results, no correlation in type of tournament, no link between a lot of travel or more local events. He is truly random in some of his results. However, he does seem to go on runs of results so with his semifinal finish in India this could come true again.

The second of the Indonesians, Anthony Ginting, missed India so is well rested. Another player that has a good level with the ability to peak and dip from one tournament to another. He was beaten badly by Kunlavut in Malaysia which could have knocked his confidence. Ginting will face the in-form Cheuk Yiu Lee in R32. We doubt that he will be able to beat him based on form and H2H with a 3-2 deficit. This one could be a letdown.

Chico Wardoyo has a very tough R32 draw against Nishimoto. The two haven’t played each other for over a year. In general, Nishimoto has had the better results, though two R32 defeats in his first two events of this year is poor. We hope Chico can improve his results in 2025 with mainly R32 exits in 2024.

There is an outside chance that Alwi Farhan could come through qualifying to cause some upsets. We know he is immensely talented, the future of Indonesian badminton at 19 years old. Farhan had a strong end to 2024 with his first tour title at the Indonesia Masters 100 event. Is that a good omen for competing on home soil? We have an outside shout on Alwi going to the Quarterfinals.

One to watch in Jakarta?

World ranked 30th, Brian Yang impressed at the Indonesia Masters last year. A superb run to the final where he eventually lost to Anders Antonsen. Now Brian seems short on confidence ever since the Olympics back in August. Perhaps a loss in motivation since after achieving a big goal getting to the Olympics. He has taken R32 and R16 losses at every world tour event since then. This tough run of form will hopefully end soon, perhaps revisiting the tournament he did so well in a year ago will be the answer?

Jun Hao Leong ranked at number 28 has a tough test in Jakarta. Drawn against Weng Hong Yang who eliminated him from the India Open last week in R16. This first match will be the biggest barrier for Jun Hao and tell us a lot about his chances this season. If he is able to get through the R32 we think he will go far in Indonesia. Can he overcome the mental barrier of beating a player that handed him a loss just days ago?

Our last call is Weng Hong Yang of China. A good player ranked 21st in the world but looking for some statement results. He reached the semifinal in India last week, beaten by Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong. In India, he also beat Jun Hao Leong of Malaysia in the R16 who he is drawn against in Jakarta. Can he get another win and repeat the performance that saw him win the China Open in September?

Final decision who gets out $10 bet?

Firstly, we have chosen an outside player to watch. Indonesia doesn’t feel as though it will have too many upsets, so we have chosen a player who we wouldn’t consider an outside favourite—more of a disruptive player who is outside the top 10. Weng Hong Yang of China is our pick for a player to watch!

We are torn between home crowd favourite Jonatan Christie, who has been performing well, and Anders Antonsen, who could retain his title from last year. Considering Anders has had extra time to rest and train, we will put our money on him. Anders also tends to have runs of good form, so it would match his success in Kuala Lumpur. ANDERS ANTONSEN TO WIN!!

Review of the India Open 2025 Singles!

It is impossible to keep track of all the badminton results and news from every tournament on the world tour. No worries, we have you covered with our India Open 2025 review summary!

Stay up to date with all the important moments.

The Men’s Singles!

The Men’s singles in Delhi threw up some great matchups that lived up to expectations, growing rivalries and providing exciting upsets. Many players even outside of the top 10 are capable of beating the top seeds. Before play was underway in Delhi we predicted the Great Dane, Viktor Axelsen, would take the title.

The R32 in India was very competitive. One of our players to watch in 2025, Alex Lanier, had his rematch with Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Another epic 3-set showdown this time going to Alex Lanier who dealt with the conditions better and adjusted his plans well since Malaysia. This is building into a very nice rivalry between the players and one we want to see more of.

Our Highlights

In the R32 Jun Hao Leong beat sixth seed Li Shi Feng in a competitive 3-set match. He is showing some good signs, beating good players, but he is still inconsistent. He was beaten in the R16 by Hong Yang Weng. We can see him growing in confidence with every tournament so there could be good things to come this year.

We saw Jonathan Christie recover from his poor performance in Malaysia, a R32 loss to Toma jr Popov. The Indonesian shuttler was able to steady his game, taking out three Chinese Taipei players on his way to the semifinals. His old foe Viktor Axelsen was once again the player who dispatched him from the competition in a simple 3-set match. We would say he met expectations.

Further into the week, we saw Kiran George gun down the French Prodigy Alex Lanier, in the R16, in straight sets. A big upset in our book with Lanier’s momentum and taking down so many strong players recently. Kiran Couldn’t keep it up with a loss in the QF to Hong Yang Weng. Could this be a turning point for the 24-year-old Indian?

The hometown players were generally disappointing, except for Kiran George as previously mentioned. The other four players were all knocked out in the first round. Kidambi didn’t play his first-round match giving his opponent a walk-over. HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen were both beaten by similar-ranked opponents.

Cheuk Yiu Lee was the surprise package of the India Open. He swiftly beat Koki Watanabe before bumping out Toma Jr. Popov in a tough match. That wasn’t even the end of his run beating Chou Tien Chen in the Quarter Final. He actually ended up in the final in Delhi!

Who won the India Open 2025 men’s singles?

On to the top dogs. The final was between our pick, Viktor Axelsen, who beat the forever patchy Jonatan Christie in the semi-finals. His opponent was the unseeded Cheuk Yiu Lee who downed Chinese hopeful Hong Yang Weng in a tough 3-set semi-final. Interestingly these two faced off in the R32 in the Malaysia Open the week before, the Hong Kong native coming out victorious. In India was saw a different more confident and more focused Viktor Axelsen, still not at his best but surely holding a grudge from their previous match. This saw Axelsen through the match comfortably 21-16 21-8.

Another correct pick for Badminton Speak in our predictions!

We also identified Toma Jr Popov as one to watch, our outside favourite for the tournament. he didn’t quite live up to our hopes of a semi-final losing out in the R16, again. However his matches are fast becoming our favourites with tense 3-set matches so common for him, whether he wins or loses. So we would give him the award for the most entertaining player in our opinion.

A Review of the India Open 2025 Women’s Singles

The Women’s Singles has become somewhat easy to predict. As we said in last week’s review we already know who one finalist will be. The undeniable Korean Queen of badminton, An Se Young. She is so far ahead of everyone else on the tour right now, everyone else has to hope she has a terrible day or just fight for second place.

The highlights from Delhi…

Hometown favourite PV Sindhu gave the crowds something to cheer. She showed glimpses of her former self but couldn’t keep it going consistently. She dominated her R32 against Shuo Yun Sung of Chinese Taipei and R16 against Manami Suizu. It was the QF where she lost out to fourth seed Gregoria Tunjung of Indonesia, even then giving her a good fight losing out 21-9 19-21 21-17. We still see PV Sindhu struggling this season, there are big questions over whether she can get back to her best.

So who opposed the Korean queen in the final?

As we predicted! An Se Young in the final at the India Open 2025, she had a simple win against Tunjung 21-19 21-16 in the semi-final. So who was her opposition this time? Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand rose from the bottom half of the draw to face the Korean. In her semi-final, Chochuwong had a tough battle with Japanese starlet Tomoka Miyazaki. A very even match that either could have won, but the Thai came out victorious 11-21 24-22 21-19. Perhaps this tough match was the reason that An Se Young swept Chochuwong aside 21-12 21-9.

A fun fact, An Se Young is yet to drop a set in her first two tournaments of the year!

We were close, in some respects. We selected Thai player Pornpicha CHOEIKEEWONG, she had played well in Kuala Lumpur the week before but wasn’t able to bring that to Delhi as she was dominated by her younger opponent Miyazaki of Japan 21-5 22-24 21-9. A disappointing result for a promising player, we backed the wrong Thai player.

The top story from India!

Mia Blichfeldt was very outspoken after she departed from India. Her Instagram post was a stern message to the BWF and BAI about the poor facilities and playing conditions.

This was compounded by her post-match interview with the BWF Media team…

“That night (Tuesday) was terrible. The only sleep I got was in the morning because I kept throwing up all night. I’m really tired now and my body is really dead,” Blichfeldt told BWF after her round of 16 defeat. It’s not so nice for me, but I’m happy with the match I pulled yesterday and the outcome today but I wish I could have gone to court at 100 percent. It happened Tuesday evening. It took a lot of mental work (to get on court). It’s really frustrating when you’ve been training to come to these tournaments and then this is one of the things that stops you from performing.”

Mia Blichfeldt

BAI Secretary Sanjay Mishra responded, “As the host and staging authority for the Yonex Sunrise India Open, the Badminton Association of India gains access to the stadium and its infrastructure only four days before the event, which poses significant logistical challenges.”

For us at Badminton Speak, this is hardly surprising. We visited the India Open in 2024 as spectators during the first round of the tournament. The facilities in Delhi are very poor with poorly covered doorways creating drift, birds in the roof of the venue, toilet facilities that don’t work, and difficulty just getting to the venue which is quite isolated.

Mia was not the only one to comment on the conditions. French mixed doubles player Thom Gicquel made similar comments in the media zone of the India Open 2025 “The playing hall is pretty nice,” he commented, “But the weather is pretty cold here in Delhi and the pollution is really high right now, so it’s not easy to play, not the best conditions to play in.”

Are the European players too soft, are the conditions at Indian tournaments up to international standards… Tell us in the comments!

Malaysia Open Review and Results 2025 – did our predictions hold?

The curtain falls on an interesting first tournament of the season in Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysia Open 2025, the traditional curtain raiser for the world tour, has given us an insight into the season to come. Only a short winter break for the shuttlers after the World Tour finals in December, now they once again have the opportunity to prove themselves on the world tour.

Winner predictions!

In the Badminton Speak predictions for the Malaysia Open 5 winners were chosen for each of the disciplines. These were based on instinct, past results, H2H results and form. So how many did we get right?

Men’s Singles – The Champion!

The Men’s singles final at the Axiata Arena was quite predictable. There was no real upset. Anders Antonsen and Shi Yu Qi, first and second seed, faced off in a replay of the 2024 final. It was a disappointing final between the two rivals. Shi Yu Qi quickly took control of the match and showed everyone how ruthless he can be. Within 40 minutes the match was over. Anders Antonsen was defeated with little more than a whimper 21-8 21-15. Shi lifted the trophy and cashed the cheque in his easiest match of the tournament.

While this was a very disappointing final match to end the men’s singles in Kuala Lumpur, the silver lining for was predicting Anders Antonsen as the winner. Now, he didn’t win, but getting to the final surely gets us some credit!

Our Rivalry Pick was spot on!

We highlighted the first-round match between Alex Lanier and Kunlavut Vitidsarn as our rivalry match. A match we think has a bit of spice to it, exciting rallies, some serious competition, and maybe something more compelling behind it. We thought this could be the start of that type of rivalry for these two players and it did not disappoint.

A lovely three-set match with a 23-21 final set is all you can ask for. Alex Lanier’s fearless attitude is something to be admired. Unfortunately, we chose Alex Lanier as our outside favourite, but failed badly. It was always a high-risk choice up against such a strong first-round match.

Women’s Singles – The Champion!

Our prediction for the Women’s singles was also not too surprising. There is one woman that is recognised as the best player on tour. The reigning Olympic champion An Se Young. She was seeded first and we didn;t see any real problems for her in her draw.

Line Christophersen defeated in straight sets, Nguyen of Vietnam in straight sets, Beiwan Zhang retired injured. Even the rejuvinated Ratchanok Intanon was brushed aside 21-14 21- 18 in the semi final. An then faced off against second seed Wang of China and again demonstrated her superiority 21-17 21-7. This could be a record-breaking year for An Se Young, could she beat Kento Momota’s record of 11 titles won in a single season?

What about our outside favourite?

Our prediction was for Japanese hot-shot Miyazaki. She had a good end to the 2024 season and I could see her doing well in Malaysia. This did not quite go how we thought it would. We saw a good match in the first round with Mia Blickfeldt but thought she would win in 3 and meet An Se Young in the quarter final. This was not to be.

As we highlighted our rivalry match choice, Blichfeldt lost to Miyazaki last season and came back with some fire to return the favour in a tasty 3-set match. So not the outside favourite but the rivalry has been sparked.

Men’s Doubles – The Champions!

Men’s Doubles was thankfully a little more unpredictable. In our prediction, we hoped that the home town stars Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik would get the job done for the home crowed. Unfortunately that didn’t materialise. The last remaining Malaysian pair was actually Wei Chong Man with Kai Wun TEE in the semifinal where they lost a tight match to the eventual winners in 3 sets.

The two top seeds were taken out in the first and second round respectively. This was great to see. As fans we want some jeopardy! The final in Kuala Lumpur was actually played between two unseeded pairs. Chen and Liu of China, WR 18, against unranked Won Ho KIM and Seung Jai SEO. The unranked pair made every match look comfortable, not losing a set en-route to the final. The Chinese pair had more trouble, showing their determination and resilience to come through three 3 set matches to reach the final.

The first set was close, neither pair wanting to give the other an advantage. It culminated in a 21-19 win for the Chinese. This is when the match turned. The South Koreans came back more focused for the second set wasting no time in forging a lead they refused to relinquish. They showed their ferocity clsoing out the set 21-12 and repeating the same exercise in the third 21-12. A first victory for the Koreans in their first tournament together.

How did our outside favourite do?

In our prediction we chose the new Chinese Taipei pair Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin to upset the party so to speak. They were matched against the first seeds from Denmark ASTRUP and RASMUSSEN in the first round. Did they deliver? YES THEY DID! A beautiful win taking the third set 22-20!

Great value as an outside choice. Unfortunately their tounament ended in the next round in another gruelling 3 set match. More to come from this pair though!

Did the rivalry deliver?

Our rivalry pick for the men’s doubles was Alfian and Ardianto against Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi in the first round. A perculier match-up as the lower ranked pair had won the last two meeting. This played out once again in Malaysia. The home town pair beat out the higher ranked Indonesians. They can be confident they have their number now, a big problem for the Indonesians going forward.

Womens Doubles – The Champions!

The Womens doubles was affected by many missing top pairs which we hoped could throw up some exciting results. Having said this we did pick the Korean second seeds Ha Na BAEK and So Hee LEE as our favourites to take home the money from Malaysia. Unfortunately they let us down with a quarter-final loss to the eventual winners, a new pair out of Japan!

Zero points to us….

Similar to the Men’s Doubles, two unseeded pairs fought for the title in the Axiata Arena. Chinese pair Yi Fan JIA and Shu Xian ZHANG, who defeated their compatriots and first seeds, Liu and Tan in the semi-final. They had a final showdown with the unseeded new Japanese pair Yuki FUKUSHIMA and Mayu MATSUMOTO who smashed third seeds LI and LUO in their semi-final.

Though the Japanese pair are new together the two tournaments they already played earned them podium spots. Needless to say, they are used to a big occassion. Both pairs competed well in the first set with the Chinese pair coming through with a 21-17 win. The Japanese pair then settled and eased themselves into the second set, controlling the rallies well. This cool and controlled approach from the Japanese paid off when they came out 21-15 winners in the second following it up with another cool 21-15 win in the third.

Our Ones to Watch!

In our prediction for the Malaysia Open we picked a pair to watch who we thought could provide some excitement. Maybe they could cause some upsets, maybe they could beat the odds or perhaps they are a new pair on the tour… Well maybe we gain some points back for selecting the winners FUKUSHIMA and MATSUMOTO as our ones to watch!!

Did the Rivalry we pick live up to expectation?

No. The KIM and KONG VS BAEK and LEE never materialised in the quarter-final. They weren’t able to get past the Japanese winners who blitzed both pairs early on. Our other mentions also did not live up to expectations. What rivalry should we look out for at the INDIA OPEN?

Mixed Doubles – The Champions!

The Mixed doubles draw did not throw up any obvious problems for the seeded players. That’s why we focused on the top seeded Chinese pairs to win this one. Feng and Huang had our vote of confidence to take the title as the first seeds.

We were largely correct with 3 of the 4 semi-finalists being seeds. This meant Feng and Huang were able to make it swiftly through the draw into the final with little problem. Straight sets all the way to the final where they met the clitches in our prediction. The Thai unseeded pair Dechapol and Supissara. They are WR 57 but won two title in 2024. They should have been our ones to watch!

You have already guessed it. The Thai pair took the title from the Chinese number ones in a 3 set tactical battle 21-13 19-21 21-18. A sign of good things to come from this new Thai pairing.

Where did our ones to watch end up?

Well we already mentioned we should have picked this Thai pair, instead we chose a pair that they faced in a final in 2024 Kapila and Crasto of India. Unfortunately, they were swiftly dealt with in the second round. Perhaps they need some time to get back into competition after a few weeks off.

Did the rivalry pick live up to expectation?

In short, no. A huge let down. We thought the European showdown between Delrue and Gicquel against Vestergaard and Busch would give us some fireworks. The season opener, the closing gap between France and Denmark, very limited competition at the top of European mixed doubles. No. The French pair obliterated the Danes with very little problems. not competitive and not that interesting.

Did our picks for upsets come off?

YES and Yes again!!!

Can we see the future? probably not, but we do know badminton. Four of our Five picks for upsets came off at the Malaysia Open 2025.

Our Men’s singles pick was Toma Jr Popov defeating Jonatan Christie in the first round which did happen in some style with the French man winning the third set 26-24!

The women’s singles pick of Wardani beating higher ranked compatriot Tunjung also came off! This turend out to be a simpler match than we thought wiht a 21-8 21-14 win.

In the mens doubles we saw something in the first round match up of Lane and Vendy VS He and Ren! This was a much bigger upset than most as the English pair don’t go too far in big events but they can pull off the odd upset. They actually dominated the thrid set making it look easy 21-11.

The Womens doubles was much mroe difficult for us to choose and upset. Lots of new partnerships but would they really be counted as upsets? We couldn’t see many so put our money on Kim and kong to beat the Yeung sisters of Hong Kong. This paid off in what was an easy match in the end. A 40 minute demolition. The Koreans will be ranked above them by the end of the year.

You will already have worked out, with four pay outs so to speak, it was the mixed doubles that we need to study more. We couldn’t actually see any upsets in the first round so chose Kapila and Crasto to win their second round match vs Cheng and Zhang of China. Unfortunately we backed the wrong pair on this occassion.

India Open 2025 – Women’s Singles Draw and Predictions

It’s an exciting time in the women’s singles to see who will come second to An Se Young. Her grip on women’s singles is tight and we can’t see that changing in India. having said that, due to the retirements and injuries from last season we could find some new talent stepping up to take on their positions.

Carolina Marin, Tai Tzu Ying, Akane Yamaguchi and Chen Yu Fei are all out with no dates for return. We know it is likely all of these players could never return to the court, a huge blow to the sport and women’s singles. Busanan Ongbamrungpham and Supinada Katathong have withdrawn with injuries.

Women's Singles draw for the India Open 2025. An Se Young the strong favourite again as first seed. Can PV Sindhu wow the home crowd?

As we know our pick is once again for An Se Young the badminton prodigy, we will turn our attention to the outside favourites. Players that could have an unexpected run or cause some upsets in the competition.

The underdogs to look out for…

Our first pick would be Pornpicha CHOEIKEEWONG of Thailand. Ranked at 38 in the world she meets Miyazaki of Japan in the first round who is ranked 32 places above her, the steady Thai player has a 2-2 H2H with both wins coming last year. Her draw seems favourable and she had a great Malaysia open finishing 3rd.

Ratchanok Intanon has also been showing some really good signs. For us she poses the biggest threat to An Se Young who she has on her side of the draw. An Se Young does have an 8-1 H2H lead the last 3 matches have all been 3 sets. An unlikely one but a hopeful one.

Our third consideration for one to watch is the 26-year-old Natsuki Nidaira of Japan. She had a good 2024 season with numerous QF finishes at big tournaments as well as a 3rd place finish at the Indonesia Masters and winning the US Open. Along the way she picked up victories against top players Katethong, Wardani, Intanon, Beiwan Zhang, Ongbamrungphan and Aya Ohori. This would indicate she has a good level and is capable of beating all of the middle-ranked players. India could be the place she pushes beyond the quarter-final She has a tough route to a semi-final. She would likely need to beat Gregoria Tunjung and PV Sindhu just to meet An Se Young in the semifinal.

If we were forced to choose a prospect to back in India it would be Choeikeewong of Thailand!

Could the local girls give the crowd something to cheer about?

With 5 Indian women in the draw they have a chance. The star girl PV Sindhu had a very noticeable drop off last season. Only one title at the Syed Modi 300 event. This would indicate to us that she is unlikely to make any significant run for the title in India.

The next best opportunity for success sits with Malvika Bansod, the 23-year-old had a good 2024 season. She picked up a silver medal at the Hylo Open in Germany while also claiming victories over Tunjung and Gilmor in the China Open. She has an outside shot but will likely lose in the first round to Han Yue who she lost to in the 2nd round of the Malaysian Open last week.

AAkarshi Kashyap will also be in the draw however she found it difficult to get out of the first round in most tournaments last season. We think it is very unlikely that Kashyap will get out of the first round in Delhi as well.

The established players are joined by two rising stars for India, Anupama UPADHYAYA who is 19, and Rakshitha Sree SANTHOSH RAMRAJ who is 17. Upadhyaya lost in Malaysia last week but did have some good results in lower-ranked tournaments last season. Santhosh Ramraj had a similar season in 2024, finding her feet at the lower-ranked tournaments with some good results. Neither player has any results that suggest they could shock people in Delhi. This is surely just an experience for them at this point.

Our conclusion? No gold coming for India in the women’s singles and probably not for the whole season.

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