Sabasports Match Preview
LI-NING Hong Kong Open 2024
2024-09-10 to 2024-09-15
Source: REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
The LI-NING Hong Kong Open 2024 (Super 500) will take place from September 10th to 15th, featuring around 200 top badminton elites from over twenty countries and regions, making it a highly competitive event. Additionally, the total prize money for this year’s Hong Kong Open is as high as 420,000 USD, which is very attractive.
On the men’s side, the top seed of the tournament, Shi Yuqi, who is currently ranked number one in the world, will lead the upper half of the draw. It’s worth noting that in the previous Korea Open, Shi Yuqi was plagued by injuries and even considered retirement. He unfortunately lost to Lee Cheuk Yiu in the quarterfinals. Nevertheless, Shi Yuqi is still listed in the draw for this tournament and remains the top seed. Considering that the other seeded player in the first quarter of the draw is only Kodai Naraoka, the hopes for China’s top player to advance to the semifinals are still quite high.
In the lower half of the draw, the second seed of the tournament, Viktor Axelsen, who is currently ranked second in the world, is undoubtedly Shi Yuqi’s biggest threat. In the recent Paris Olympics men’s singles badminton competition, Axelsen won the gold medal in a dominating fashion, achieving the impressive feat of double career Super Grand Slam. For Axelsen, advancing to the semifinals shouldn’t be too difficult. His likely opponent in the semifinals will be either Li Shifeng or Indonesia’s top player Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. However, both Li Shifeng and Ginting have been out of form recently, making it unlikely for either to pull off an upset against Axelsen.
Judging from the overall strength and form of the players in both halves of the draw, Shi Yuqi and Viktor Axelsen are undoubtedly the hot favorites to win this tournament. However, Shi Yuqi has recently been plagued by injuries and is clearly not in his best form. Whether he can fully recover and compete at his best in this Hong Kong Open remains to be seen. In contrast, Axelsen recently won gold at the Paris Olympics and achieved double career Super Grand Slam, indicating he is in excellent form. Given these circumstances, the red-hot Axelsen is clearly more likely than Shi Yuqi to clinch the Hong Kong Open title.