Top seeds Rasmussen and Astrup knocked out on Day One
The men’s doubles top seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen were knocked out in straight games on Day 1 of the YONEX All England Badminton Championships 2025.
Up against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia, the Danish duo lost 22-20 21-18 in a closely-fought battle to record a famous win.
Other big names to fall were last year’s beaten men’s doubles finalists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik as they were beaten by Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard 21-16 16-21 21-18 in a match lasting over an hour.
Rasmussen and Astrup were knocked out in the first round for the third tournament in succession having experienced the same fate at the Malaysia Open and India Open in January.
In their first meeting with Fikri and Marthin, the world No.16s, Astrup and Rasmussen let a game point go in the first game and were unable to halt their opponents march to victory.
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Other top seeds survived the pressure that comes with their billing as Soon Huat Goh and Shevon Jemie Lai of Malaysia came through a three-set battle in the mixed doubles.
Having won the first game 22-20, Goh and Lai were overpowered by Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran 21-9.
The world no.3s then battled to the win, claiming the third 21-18 to set-up a second-round tie with Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Julie MacPherson of Scotland in the second round.
Lai said: “We prepared really hard for this tournament and it is an honour for us to be the first seeds, it is almost history for our country.
“We would like to make more history of making it onto the podium if that is possible for us.
“We will give our best and, looking at the draw, we have overcome one very tough opponent and we have a few more to go and we will prepare ourselves and we will bring more history for our country.”
In the men’s singles, Yu Qi Shi of China made it through with a 21-13 21-8 defeat of Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia, needing just 34 minutes to advance.
While Jonatan Christie’s defence got off to the best possible start with a win over Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia.
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However, another former men’s singles champion in the form of Zii Jia Lee was knocked out in three games by Ka Long Angus Ng of Hong Kong.
Ng said: “I have lost five consecutive matches to him in the past, so this time I finally ended the losing streak. It really means a lot to me in this match.
“I’ve suffered from a few first round exits here at the All England in the past few years. Every time I heard a lot of Hong Kong supporters coming to support us.
“Every time I want to do something in front of them. This time I hope I really did it and I tried not to make them disappointed.”
English hopes were carried by Ben Lane and Sean Vendy who advanced to the second round with a battling win over Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo of Malaysia in the men’s doubles.
The USA’s Beiwen Zhang came from a game down to knock out the world no.9 Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the women’s singles.
Intanon had taken the lead comfortably in the first before Zhang hit back to win 12-21 21-18 21-19.
Elsewhere, 2022 champion Akane Yamaguchi was dominant, beating Thuy Linh Nguyen 21-19 21-12.
In the women’s doubles, fourth seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi survived a scare as they defeated Nga Ting Yeung and Pui Lam Yeung 17-21 21-12 21-16.
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Their Japanese compatriots Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto, who are both former women’s doubles winners in different partnerships, were delighted to make it through in straight games.
Fukushima said: “It’s an honour to be able to pay in such a historical tournament.
“To be able to play in this new pair and to be given this chance is really a privilege. We’d like to make use of this chance and enjoy it.
“In retrospect I wasn’t imagining I’d be able to be here this year. We’d like to have a very good time together here.”
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Photo courtesy of Badmintonphoto
