It has been a long and action-packed day at the German Open in Mülheim an der Ruhr, with a large number of European players in action. However, we had to wait until the very last match of the day for the biggest European surprise.

Nguyen Stuns Chou

Nhat Nguyen defeated world No. 8 Chou Tien Chen for the first time in their fifth career meeting.

Nguyen came out firing, taking the opening game 21-11. In the second, the momentum completely shifted as Chou demonstrated why he has been among the world’s elite for more than a decade, leveling the match with a dominant 21-11 response.

But in the deciding game, the Irishman once again stormed ahead, leading 11-2 at the interval. Although Chou narrowed the gap late on, Nguyen held his nerve to close it out 21-16 and secure a memorable victory.

After the match, Nguyen was understandably pleased “This definitely gives me confidence and momentum to go forward — a huge confidence boost that I know on my day I can defeat the best players in the world.”

While Nguyen has produced big first-round wins before, he has sometimes struggled to back them up in later rounds. Improving his physical consistency has therefore been a key focus over the last period of time. Nguyen says he now feels ready to perform at a high level on consecutive days.

Next up, he faces Wangcharoen from Thailand.

Koga Knocks Out Second Seed

Another major upset came in an all-Asian clash, as Minoru Koga, Japan,  defeated second seed Li Shi Feng, China, in straight games.

Koga, who had to come through qualification to earn his place in the main draw, delivered a superb performance to win 21-16, 21-15. Ranked No. 63 in the world, he eliminated the world No. 6 in commanding fashion.

With that result, both the second and third seeds are now out of the men’s singles draw.

Full Results – European Players in Action

• SCO J Macpherson / C Torrance vs NED K De Wit / M Loos 19-21, 19-21
• UKR P Buhrova vs BUL K Nalbantova 13-21, 18-21
• SUI/NED A Mueller / K Van Buiten vs TPE Hu L F / Jheng Y C 15-21, 9-21
• ENG A Green / Z Russ vs CHN Chen B Y / Liu Y (6) 10-21, 11-21
• TPE Chen C K / Lin B W vs FRA J Maio / W Villegier 22-20, 16-21, 17-21
• CZE J Král / O Král vs GER M Bourakkadi / K Neumann 21-19, 21-13
• USA Chen Z Y / F Corbett vs ENG S Jones / L Tolman 16-21, 21-15, 21-16
• IND R Santhosh Ramraj vs DEN L Christophersen 18-21, 23-21, 21-16
• CZE T Švábíková vs DEN A Schulz 19-21, 17-21
• SCO K Gilmour vs TPE Chen S Y 21-7, 21-13
• BEL J Carraggi vs HKG J Gunawan 17-21, 13-21
• BUL E Panev / G Stoeva vs DEN M Vestergaard / C Busch (8) 16-21, 12-21
• MAS J Wong / Lai P J vs DEN K Kolding / M Werge 16-21, 21-17, 21-17
• FRA C Popov (1) vs IND K George 21-10, 22-20
• THA S Jomkoh / O Jongsathapornparn vs FRA N Begga / E Jacob 19-21, 21-19, 21-19
• ENG C Hemming / E Van Leeuwen vs DEN R Espersen / A Kudsk 21-14, 21-17
• SWE F Karlborg / T Sjoö vs ENG O Butler / A Harris 21-12, 21-14
• CHN Cheng X / Zhang C (7) vs GER S Krax / A Lehmann 21-12, 21-18
• CRO A Dinata vs FRA T Popov (6) 21-17, 13-21, 14-21
• BUL K Nalbantova / H Popovska vs JPN K Osawa / M Tanabe (5) 9-21, 7-21
• SGP Yeo J M vs DEN J Jakobsen 21-16, 21-15
• MAS Goh S H / Lai S J (5) vs NED B Wassink / D Jille 21-15, 21-8
• NED A Buijk / M Loos vs DEN M Christiansen / A Bøje (4) 16-21, 14-21
• GER M Bourakkadi / L Michalski vs TPE Chen C K / Hsu Y H 19-21, 15-21
• TPE Yang P H / Hu L F vs CZE O Král / T Švábíková 21-13, 21-13
• CHN Weng H Y (5) vs FIN J Oldorff 23-21, 21-8
• UKR O Titov / Y Kantemyr vs SCO A Dunn / J Macpherson 8-21, 10-21
• ESP R Garcia / L Rodriguez vs CHN Guo X W / Chen F H (2) 17-21, 13-21
• GER M Kicklitz vs FIN K Koljonen 23-21, 11-21, 21-4
• THA K Wangcharoen vs DEN J Houe 21-15, 21-16
• ESP C Azurmendi vs TPE Pai Y P 20-22, 21-13, 17-21
• TPE Lin C Y (4) vs ENG H Huang 17-21, 21-11, 21-18
• POL M Szymanowski vs IND Kidambi Srikanth 12-21, 11-21
• GER M Wilson vs CHN Han Y (2) 11-21, 10-21
• TPE C Lee vs DEN D Holm 15-21, 12-21
• IRL N Nguyen vs TPE Chou T C (3) 21-11, 11-21, 21-16

In addition to today’s European winners who advance to the second round tomorrow, A. Rasmussen/K. Astrup, C. Popov/T. Popov, L. Curtin/S. Kelly, G. Stoeva/S. Stoeva, S. Pilgaard/S. Schulz, and P. Buhrova/Y. Kantemyr secured their first round victories yesterday, and are therefore also ready for tomorrows second round.

With plenty of Europeans progressing to the second round, there is guaranteed to be strong European representation on court again tomorrow.

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