After a hectic first day at the French Open in which the first few players qualified for the next round, those who hadn’t got to play their first match yet competed yesterday at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris, for the Round of 16 that is taking place as of now.

Just as the day started, there were quite some European names on the list already, and many more were added in what was a great second day of France’s most important badminton event. We waved goodbye to some of Europe’s best — Kim Astrup/ Anders Skaarup Rasmussen fell to Goh Sze Fei/ Nur Izzuddin, Malaysia, and Gabriela Stoeva/ Stefani Stoevaalso lost in the first round yesterday, while the host nation will be missing one of their top singles stars, Toma Junior Popov.

We also got to witness some superb wins. Scotland’s Julie Macpherson/ Ciara Torrance won their match against Malaysia’s Vivian Hoo/ Lim Chiew Sien after bouncing back from losing the first game 16-21, 21-13, 21-18. Another women’s doubles pair that claimed a victory yesterday was Maiken Fruergaard/ Sara Thygesen, Denmark, but the duo has withdrawn from the tournament.

There are plenty more pairs who qualified for the Round of 16 yesterday. Dutch duo Robin Tabeling/ Selena Piek had to face again their Dutch Open final opponents, Callum Hemming/ Jessica Pugh, less than two weeks after their win against the English pair to take the title. Tabeling/ Piek secured a win in straight games, 21-16 21-15.

Home crowd favourites Thom Gicquel/ Delphine Delrue, who reached the quarterfinals at the Denmark Open having faced tough opponents, are ready to succeed on home soil and won against Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei/ Hsu Ya Ching, 21-12 24-22.

 

European champions Mark Lamsfuss/ Marvin Seidel, Germany, will also be playing today after their win against Supak Jomkoh/ Kittinupong Kedren, Thailand, 18-21, 21-19, 22-20. Today, they will be facing Liang Wei Keng/ Wang Chang, China. The Chinese duo are leading the head to head but this is the chance for the German pair to equalise it 1-1.

Mia Blichfeldt will also be facing strong Chinese opposition in today’s match. The Dane defeated Iris Wang, USA, 21-18 21-16, yesterday. Today, she will be playing against 2021 World Championships bronze medallist He Bingjiao.