In the most striking result of the China Open’s opening rounds, Indonesia’s unseeded Rachel Allessya Rose and Febi Setianingrum dispatched the tournament’s second seeds, Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China, 24-22, 21-17. The victory, secured in 42 minutes at Changzhou’s Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, was built on a tactical shift the pair attributed to studying their two previous losses to the same opponents. “We learned from those defeats,” Febi said afterwards. “From the start we raised the intensity and focused on attacking first.” Rachel added that reading the draughty hall—knowing how to play with and against the wind—proved decisive. The Indonesians, ranked 14th in the world, overturned a 7-11 deficit in the opening game and then controlled the second, denying the Chinese duo any chance to settle.

The upset overshadowed a mixed day for Indonesia’s large contingent. Men’s singles prospect Alwi Farhan fell to India’s Ayush Shetty in a wildly oscillating three-game contest, 17-21, 21-5, 17-21. Shetty, now coached by Indonesian Irwansyah, recovered from a second-game meltdown to outlast Farhan in the decider, a result viewed from New Delhi as further evidence of the 20-year-old’s growing maturity. Defending men’s doubles champions Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, seeded second, were given a stern examination by Chinese qualifiers Huang Di and Liu Yang before prevailing 21-15, 20-22, 21-9. Fajar later admitted the pair had struggled to adapt to the shuttlecock’s flight after skipping a practice session on the match court, but they steadied themselves in the third game. Fikri, speaking to reporters, said they were not burdened by the status of defending champions, preferring to draw confidence from their Japan Open title a week earlier.

Elsewhere, Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, eased past Japan’s Ririna Hiramoto and Kokona Ishikawa 21-16, 21-12, a performance that Kuala Lumpur-based analysts saw as a swift recovery from a surprise first-round exit in Tokyo. Mixed doubles veterans Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai Jemie also advanced, though they face a daunting second-round meeting with China’s Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui. India’s challenge was blunted early: H.S. Prannoy and Devika Sihag both lost in straight games on Tuesday, leaving Ayush Shetty as the sole Indian victor so far, with P.V. Sindhu and Lakshya Sen yet to begin their campaigns.

Rachel and Febi will next face either Taiwan’s Hsu Ya Ching and Sung Yu Hsuan or the American pair Lauren Lam and Allison Lee. Fajar and Fikri meet Japan’s Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami. For Indonesia, the day’s results reinforced a pattern of unpredictability in the women’s doubles draw, while the men’s doubles title defence remains on course but far from assured.