General

(Photo: Badmintonphoto)
A star-studded line-up in Mülheim
Date: 3/6/2023 2:11 PM
Published by : Sara Gonzalez Martinez (BEC)
The YONEX German Open 2023 kicks off five weeks of big BWF events on European soil.

After a quiet February besides the grand 2023 European Mixed Team Championships, we now have a busy period ahead in Europe with five consecutive BWF tournaments, the first being the YONEX German Open 2023.

Hosted in Mülheim once again, the tournament will be held from 7 until 12 March. Here’s what to expect from the upcoming competition, a star-studded line-up with most of the world’s best already gearing up for the legendary All England, taking place next week.

Tough competition
With a line-up of European players in the men’s singles qualification draw, making 13 out of the 16 players fighting to be promoted to the main draw, we are guaranteed to see some of them playing on Wednesday. Alex Lanier, Kai Schaefer, Kalle Koljonen, Mads Christophersen, Felix Burestedt, and Ade Resky Dwicahyo are some of the names of those who will play tomorrow already.

Reigning World champion Viktor Axelsen will not be competing in the Super 300 tournament, regaining strength before the busy few weeks ahead, but the other 2022 medallists will be there —Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Lakshya Sen, and Lee Zii Jia, as well as the previous edition’s champion, Kento Momota.

The women’s singles main draw will feature some of Europe’s strongest players in the discipline. Kristin Kuuba will be facing reigning champion He Bing Jiao, Clara Azurmendi’s first opponent will be Qi Xuefei who recently gave show-stopping performances at the European Mixed Team Championships, and Kirsty Gilmour will have a tough first match against 2022 bronze medallist Zhang Yi Man.

Former medallists looking for more wins this year
Speaking of Europe’s strongest, the doubles disciplines will also have some great names from our continent. Kim Astrup/ Anders Skaarup Rasmussen are the only Europeans in the last five years who have managed to stop the Asian powerhouses by winning a title. They won the gold in 2017 and secured a bronze medal last year. 

Alexander Dunn/ Adam Hall could be facing last year’s runner-up if they advance to the second round. Christo Popov/ Toma Junior Popov will have second-seeded duo Takuto Hoki/ Yugo Kobayashi as their first opponents.

As for the women’s doubles, European champions Gabriela Stoeva/ Stefani Stoeva will face Debora Jille/ Cheryl Seinen in the first round. Yuki Fukushima/ Sayaka Hirota, who won the title two years in a row in 2017 and 2018, will be the first opponents of Mariia Stoliarenko/ Yelyzaveta Zharka.

From the tournament’s host country, Stine Kuespert/ Emma Moszczynski and Linda Efler/ Isabel Lohau will fight to earn important wins on home soil — with the latter facing another strong European pair, Chloe Birch/ Lauren Smith.

Another powerful English pair, Gregory Mairs/ Jenny Moore, will be battling it out in the main draw from the get-go. Also in the mixed doubles, Adam Hall/ Julie Macpherson will be in this year’s edition to try and repeat their success in Mülheim, having won a bronze medal last year. Misha Zilberman/ Svetlana Zilberman, Robin Tabeling/ Selena Piek, Mark Lamsfuss/ Isabela Lohau, and Thom Gicquel/ Delphine Delrue are some of the other European duos we will see in the main draw.

Meanwhile, the qualification draw has an all-European list. After a fruitful year in which they rapidly escalated in the rankings, Mihajlo Tomic/ Andjela Vitman will fight for a spot in the main draw against the experienced Joshua Magee/ Moya Ryan. Gianmarco Bailetti/ Martina Corsini will have to beat Patrick Scheiel/ Franziska Volkmann if they want to continue fighting in the main draw, with Corsini also playing the main draw with Judith Mair in the women’s doubles.

Live coverage 
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