Chou Tien-chen stuns world No. 1 Shi Yuqi to reach China Open men's semifinals

Chou Tien-chen stuns world No. 1 to reach China Open semifinals

Taiwan's top male badminton player Chou Tien-chen upset world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China to advance to the men's semifinals at the 2026 China Open, ending a nine-match losing streak against the Chinese shuttler. Chou entered the match trailing 5-15 in their career head-to-head record, with his last victory over Shi dating to the men's team event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, which were held that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shi built a 13-6 lead midway through the first game before Chou increased the tempo and launched a 15-1 run to take the opener 21-14. Shi leveled with a 21-12 second game, but Chou controlled the decider, racing to a 7-2 lead before closing out 21-15 in a match that lasted 61 minutes at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 36-year-old Chou said he would focus on resting and recovering before his semifinal against Taiwanese countryman Lin Chun-yi, who won the men's singles title at the All England Open in March. The Badminton World Federation Super 1000 tournament is being held in Jiangsu province from July 21 to 26.

Malaysian shuttlers suffer mass exits at China Open

Malaysia's campaign at the China Open unraveled in the second round, with national men's singles player Leong Jun Hao and the doubles pairs of Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, Soh Wooi Yik-Man Wei Chong, Chen Tang Jie-Clarissa San, and Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Azriyn Ayub all exiting on Thursday. Only the women's doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah remained in the Super 1000 event, raising concerns about Malaysian form with the World Championships scheduled to begin in less than a month.

The China Open setback followed a similarly disappointing Japan Open the previous week, where Goh and Izzuddin were the only Malaysians to reach the semifinals. Newly reshuffled men's doubles pairings, formed in the lead-up to the World Championships, struggled to find chemistry; Aaron Chia and Aaron Tai lost in the first round on their debut in China, and Soh and Man were described as clearly disjointed in a straight-games loss to a Japanese pair. Chia and Tai will return to training with former partners Soh and Kang Khai Xin ahead of the world meet, while questions persist over the timing of the partnership reshuffling carried out by the Badminton Association of Malaysia. Last year, Chen and Toh Ee Wei were crowned mixed doubles world champions, while Tan and Thinaah finished with silver after reaching the final, benchmarks that now look difficult to repeat given the recent form.

New Philippine badminton academy launches with Malaysian partner

The Philippines is set to open a new badminton academy in partnership with Malaysia's New Vision Badminton Academy, with the NVBA-MIA Badminton Academy officially launching on August 1 and training sessions beginning August 3 at MIA Sports Center in Pasay. The partnership was formalized during a contract signing on Thursday, July 23, attended by MIA Sports Center President Melvin Nubla, NVBA Coaching Director Karen Au-Mun Yee, and NVBA Director Dr. Sugita Kunalan.

Founded 18 years ago by former Malaysian national players Yogendran Khrishnan, Yeoh Kay Bin, and Manoj Kumar Ramasamy, NVBA has produced national-team caliber players and runs branches in Dubai and the Maldives. Under the agreement, the Philippine academy will operate similarly to those international branches, with Malaysian coaches leading training and mentoring Filipino coaches to maintain international standards. Sessions will run twice daily from Monday to Saturday, with morning practice from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and afternoon sessions from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Nubla, a former Philippine Badminton Association head of development, said the collaboration would give Filipino athletes access to world-class badminton training and that NVBA's international network would help elevate standards for both players and coaches. Training at the NVBA-MIA Badminton Academy will be open to local and international players starting August 3.