Just like last week, Europe’s chances at a podium finish at the VICTOR China Open 2025 lie solely in the men’s singles, with Christo Popov, Toma Junior Popov, and Anders Antonsen all advancing to the quarterfinals while all remaining Europeans have been knocked out.
This week, however, there’s one more European in the quarterfinals than in Tokyo. The first of the three to secure his spot was Toma Junior Popov, who delivered a convincing 21-17 21-16 win against Brian Yang – his first-ever win against the Canadian. This is his best result since May, when he reached the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters.
To reach the podium in Changzhou, he’ll need to defeat Anders Antonsen, a player he’s never beaten, although he’s pushed him to three games several times, including their last meeting at the Denmark Open last year.
Antonsen: I just refused to let go of the game
The Dane, seeded second, faced Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi in what was a match worthy of the later stages of the tournament – and yet we’re only in the round of 16. It was exciting and tightly contested, with both players showing big emotions throughout the decider.
Lin, ranked 16th in the world – 13 spots below Antonsen – proved a worthy opponent. “He’s very sharp at the net. With windy conditions and lively shuttlecocks, it’s very important to control the net. He was very difficult to handle at the net,” Antonsen said after the match.
The Chinese Taipei player started the decider strong, leading 8-3, but Antonsen didn’t give in. “I was down and out in that third game […] but I just refused to let go of the game, I kept fighting.” He went on to win three straight points, and from there, the match returned to being as close as in the earlier games.
After losing two match points and seeing Lin catch up at 20-20, the Dane managed to close it out 22-20. “I’m very, very proud that I managed to find a way back.”
Christo Popov, sharp on crucial points
It was also a three-game clash for Christo Popov, the third and final European player to book a spot in the quarterfinals. The Frenchman faced Jonatan Christie in what was their first-ever encounter. “It was, at least for me, very difficult with the conditions today, much more than yesterday,” Popov said, talking both about the drift mentioned by several players and the challenge of facing the Indonesian. “He made it very difficult for me.”
“I think that being on the bad side was terrible today, honestly,” he added, referring to the drift again but also to the impact of switching courts midway through the decider. “I had some lucky net shots on crucial points […] and that made a difference in the end,” said Popov, who eventually got the win 21-12, 13-21, 21-16.
He will face Wang Zheng Xing in the next round. The two players have not met since back in 2019 as junior players. It’s bound to be an exciting one. You can see tomorrow’s order of play here.
