Published: March 2, 2026 at 9:23 pm
World No.37 Han Qian Xi won the biggest title of her career with an upset win over world No.2 Wang Zhi Yi in the final of the YONEX German Open 2026.
In men’s singles, Christo Popov once again proved too strong for older brother Toma Junior, cruising to his third straight win in four meetings, 21-16 21-15.
Popov brothers Christo and Toma Junior have a field day in quarterfinals of German Open
Han, whose previous best was the Super 100 title at the Baoji China Masters in August 2024, kept her nerve at the end of two tight games, holding off her higher-rated compatriot 21-19 22-20.
https://youtu.be/UDN2SAP1gpI?si=rO_pg4K3r_LGPJc4
“I’d never won a Super 300 title, so this was a great opportunity for me,” said Han. “I kept reminding myself to never give up. I think the important thing was that I made lesser errors, and I was also fortunate on key points. My opponent is a great player, she is ranked higher, so I had to keep reminding myself to keep going on.”
Han played well on big points, Wang
Her opponent acknowledged Han had played well on the big points. “Both of us played quite well. By the middle of the second game both of us were exhausted. My opponent played high quality. Now I will apply whatever I learnt here at the All England next week,” said Wang.
Christo and Toma Junior Popov after the men’s singles final. Pics: Badminton Photo
Christo controlled the opening game from start to finish, and after even exchanges in the early part of the second, sped away to complete his second title win from his last four tournaments.
“It’s not a normal match,” said Christo. “We know each other 100 percent and you can see we are very silent on court. It’s very different from other matches. We also tried to not celebrate too much. We want to win of course but we know it’s our brother losing. So, we try a different approach, and we’re trying to give our best. It has been a very good run for both men’s singles and men’s doubles.”
China sweep four of the five titles
China swept four of the five titles at stake. Cheng Xing/Zhang Chi got China off to a strong start, winning the mixed doubles over Mads Vestergaard/Christine Busch 21-12 21-17.
https://youtu.be/c9bh6NEd59s?si=22TG7-J0jLCbsBEz
In the men’s doubles final, Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi stopped the sensational run of qualifiers Julien Maio/William Villeger with a hard-fought 17-21 21-15 21-12 result.
