Who said what at the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2023 on Tuesday?
“I’m so grateful to be here. This is my first World Championships. I’m so happy with my first win. I’m trying to improve as much as I can. Playing Akane (at Canada Open in July) was the best feeling that I’ve had, because she’s No.2 in the world. I was trying to enjoy every moment.”
– Juliana Viana Vieira of Brazil, after beating Singapore’s Insyirah Khan 21-9 19-21 21-14
“In the early part of the year I wasn’t fully fit, I wasn’t able to push myself in the gym. Physically I’m in much better shape now, particularly the strength in my shoulder, and I’m able to hit hard again. There’s been a difference in the last few months. Overall, I’m much steadier in the legs.”
– Lakshya Sen, relishing his 21-11 21-12 result over Jeon Hyeok Jin
“Last time I lost to him in Korea, so this time I wanted to fix my mistakes. Back then I had a 9-2 lead, and yet I lost to him. This time I wanted to keep focus and not let him attack. I had an 11-2 lead, but because of my memory from Korea, this thought led me to play weakly and he caught up.”
– Wang Tzu Wei, after blowing a big lead against Lu Guang Zu
“I need to go back and work on my physical and mental fitness. These losses make you feel bad but it’s part and parcel of the game and life. She (Okuhara) is coming back, and getting her confidence back. When you get an injury it takes time to come back. Those one or two matches are important to get rhythm, and that might take time.”
– Pusarla V Sindhu, coming to terms with her early loss
“This win will give us confidence for qualification to Paris 2024. We played a really good pair, and they will be our opponents for Olympic qualification and European Championships, so it means a lot.”
– Toma Junior Popov, after he and Christo beat Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel 21-18 21-18
“This is my first big tournament. I tried my best, but I was against a better player. I take everything as experience and everything as new.”
– Switzerland’s Jenjira Stadelmann, taking the positives from her loss to Iris Wang