Latest news with #AllEnglandOpenBadmintonChampionships
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Malaysia's Lai ready to swap husband for new partner at Sudirman Cup
Badminton - All England Open Badminton Championships - Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, Britain - March 9, 2019 Malaysia's Soon Huat Goh and Shevon Jemie Lai in action during their mixed doubles semi final match against Japan's Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS KUALA LUMPUR -For most married couples, separation is a last resort. For Malaysian shuttler Shevon Lai Jemie, it's a tactical option she's perfectly willing to embrace for Sudirman Cup glory. As the team prepares for their Group C battles in Xiamen against Japan, Australia and France starting on Sunday, Lai is perfectly comfortable leaving husband Goh Soon Huat for another partner if national duty calls. "Of course, in any situation, if the team need us to split, we're definitely okay with it. It's all about doing what's best for the team," Lai said during a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara. For Lai, a temporary on-court separation could offer more than just tactical advantages for the tournament. "Actually, it's a good experience to play with a different partner. We get to learn something new, and it's quite refreshing," she told Malaysia's Star newspaper. "Yes, it gives us a fresh perspective and allows us to adapt to different styles of play. Both Soon Huat and I are always trying to become more all-rounded as players." Malaysia's mixed doubles arsenal also includes Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin, and Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei – the latter having mended a previously fractious relationship. In the women's doubles department, Malaysia will field Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah alongside Go Pei Kee-Carmen Ting. Lai and Goh were part of Malaysia's bronze medal-winning squad at the 2023 Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, though they featured in just one match – a victory over India's Ashwini Ponnapa-Dhruv Kapilla in the opening Group C tie. The Sudirman Cup is badminton's premier mixed team world championship, and will be staged in Xiamen, China, from April 27 to May 4. The 19th edition of the biennial tournament will unfold at the Fenghuang Gymnasium within the Xiamen Olympic Sports Center, and features 16 national teams vying for global supremacy. The competition's format includes five matches per tie—men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Telegraph
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Kirsty Gilmour: Badminton must change rules so women are not punished for period breaks
Playing against the world No 1 is already a daunting task, let alone when your period has started only minutes before the match. Yet instead of being allowed time to deal with the situation when she faced An Se-young at the All England Open Badminton Championships last month, Kirsty Gilmour was penalised for taking more than the allocated two minutes between sets to visit the bathroom facilities. 'I was playing the world No 1 and 30 minutes before I went on the court, my period started unexpectedly,' three-time Team GB Olympian Gilmour tells Telegraph Sport. 'That's fine, I had tampons and pads and everything and I dealt with it. 'For me, the first few hours are tricky. I lost the first set and then I won the second set. Not many people have taken a set off of the world No 1 this year, she has a 20-to-zero win-to-loss ratio. So I've won the second set, but I've also been quite aware that there's some movement in my shorts. I asked the umpire if I could go to the toilet to deal with it.' Gilmour did so but was then shown a yellow card for 'delaying play' after failing to return within the allocated time period. Although the card and subsequent fine were later overturned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Gilmour is now urging the sport to review its rules and regulations to allow for the 'rare' occasion that an athlete will need a longer break because of their period. 'The point of this is that there's just not a protocol for it. We have protocols if you need the bathroom, we have protocols if there's a blood injury, but we don't have protocols for the middle ground of the bathroom involving blood,' she says. Gilmour does not blame the umpire nor the tournament referee, but wants the BWF to change the rules to account for these unlikely, but possible, circumstances. 'It happens so rarely. I've been playing for 13 years, and I've never been caught short on court before,' Gilmour adds. 'I don't think it's a case of we need to be careful of people using it as a delay tactic or something. 'There's just not a person that has a period in the world that wants to stand in front of a few thousand people and tell a person with a microphone that they're bleeding. I'd like there to be some sort of protocol put in place for people with periods to deal with the situation because it's something that you just absolutely can't help.' 'We just default to men' In 2022, Wimbledon changed its strict all-white dress code to allow women players to wear dark undershorts because of concerns by menstruating players. Manchester City changed their women's shorts colour that same year, while female cricketers have also been asked about the rare occasions they have to don their whites for Test matches as awareness over periods and kit as well as the sport in general increased. Gilmour wants to encourage more conversations on the subject in badminton, despite only becoming so open herself since the incident. 'This is probably the first real discussion we've had of periods around badminton,' says Gilmour, 31, as she uses careful and deliberate language to talk about the issue and what occurred during her match. 'I think we need to start to be so comfortable having these conversations, even just with me doing these kind of interviews over the last few days I've become so much more blasé about saying periods or bleeding or menstrual cycle, or all that stuff because 50 per cent of the population deal with it every month and the other 50, if any of them are creeped out, I'll just tell them to grow up.' Badminton allows for a bathroom break during the two-minute intervals between games but there is no dispensation should players need longer. 'I think with so many rules, we just default to men,' Gilmour says. 'The men are mostly the ones in positions of power in governing bodies and I think we're slowly seeing that change, but it just takes an extra breadth of knowledge that women bring to life, to the world. 'More knowledge in a room is better than a whole chunk of knowledge of people's experiences missing, so the more women that we can get into leadership positions in sport... I think the more ground we can cover on these kind of rules and these situations.'
Khaleej Times
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
Shi wins All England Open Badminton title with victory over Lee
China's Shi Yuqi overcame Taiwan's Lee Chia-hao in the men's singles final to win the All England Open Badminton Championships title on Sunday in a two-game match. Top-seeded Shi secured the win in 51 minutes, keeping a determined Lee at bay for most of the match and sealing the final with a 21-17, 21-19 victory. The 2018 winner and world number one showed composure throughout the match, despite Lee's late comeback attempt in the final game, and raised his hand in triumph before a cheering audience. Afterwards, Shi thanked the supporters, saying in English, "Thank you, I love you guys," to the fans at Arena Birmingham who were waving Chinese flags. China can get a double triumph as Wang Zhiyi faces South Korea's An Se-young in the women's final later on Sunday.
Reuters
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Badminton - Shi wins All England title with victory over Lee
BIRMINGHAM, England, March 16 (Reuters) - China's Shi Yuqi overcame Taiwan's Lee Chia-hao in the men's singles final to win the All England Open Badminton Championships title on Sunday in a two-game match. Top-seeded Shi secured the win in 51 minutes, keeping a determined Lee at bay for most of the match and sealing the final with a 21-17 21-19 victory. The 2018 winner and world number one showed composure throughout the match, despite Lee's late comeback attempt in the final game, and raised his hand in triumph before a cheering audience. Afterwards, Shi thanked the supporters, saying in English, "Thank you, I love you guys," to the fans at Arena Birmingham who were waving Chinese flags. China can get a double triumph as Wang Zhiyi faces South Korea's An Se-young in the women's final later on Sunday.
Reuters
15-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Shi Yuqi and Lee Chia-hao set for final showdown at All England Open
BIRMINGHAM, England, March 15 (Reuters) - Shi Yuqi will face Lee Chia-hao in the men's singles final at the All England Open Badminton Championships, while Wang Zhiyi will compete against An Se-young in the women's final, after they won their semi-finals on Saturday. Top seed Shi beat Chinese compatriot Li Shifeng 21-9 20-22 21-19. The final game was a nerve-wracking affair, with Shi looking set to break away. However, Li fought back strongly, levelling the score twice near the end, before Shi kept his cool and clinched the win. In the other semi-final, Taiwan's Lee staged a comeback after losing the first game, overcoming France's Alex Lanier, the last remaining European in the competition, 19-21 21-14 21-17. The first semi-final of the women's singles provided another all-China clash, with second seed Wang beating Han Yue 21-10 21-19. Top seed An of South Korea faced third-seeded Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in a rematch of the 2022 final, where Yamaguchi emerged victorious. This time, however, An, the reigning Olympic champion, had little difficulty securing a 21-12 21-17 win to book her third final in four years.
