Choose your subscription package The scoreline suggested dominance for Axelsen, but during the first game, he struggled with his movements against Lee. “To be honest, it didn’t feel like it was smooth sailing at all. But I started moving better and then I felt more confident,” he said. While he managed to cruise through the […]
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The scoreline suggested dominance for Axelsen, but during the first game, he struggled with his movements against Lee. “To be honest, it didn’t feel like it was smooth sailing at all. But I started moving better and then I felt more confident,” he said. While he managed to cruise through the second game, Axelsen’s assessment that he still feels nowhere near his best is a warning sign for the rest of the tour.
On Sunday, still far from his best, Axelsen dismantled Lee Cheuk Yiu 21-16, 21-8 to bag his third India Open men’s singles crown, 10 years after reaching the final here for the first time. “I’ve struggled a little bit post-Olympics with injuries, training and my motivation a little bit has been lacking. But this week I felt like a competitor out there. I dug deep in every single match and found a solution. That’s why this means a lot. It gives me a lot of motivation again which I’ve been lacking a little bit since the Olympics,” he said.
“But in order to keep hungry, I have to set myself new targets. And for me, it’s to fulfil my full potential. In my mind, I haven’t peaked yet. If you look at the big picture, I can’t come back in 10 years and say I’m going to give it a chance. It’s here now. It’s now or never for me. So the last few years of my career, I will try to enjoy it as much as possible. Even though I look very serious on court and emotional sometimes, I actually enjoy playing.” Well, he’s back alright.
Late night on Saturday, Viktor Axelsen emerged from a tough old battle against Jonatan Christie in the semifinal at the India Open, and told the media: “I am a human being, not a machine.” At the peak of his career, especially in the cycle between his two Olympic gold medals, he was destroying opponents for fun as he piled up the titles on tour. So much so you wondered if he really was a machine.
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Another Olympic champion was also on the podium, as An Se Young – as she had been all week – looked invincible and outplayed Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-12, 21-9. If Axelsen’s was a journey of struggle, An’s was one of perfection and finding happiness on court again after the controversy surrounding her remarks against the Korean badminton association after her Paris gold. “I want to play the perfect game,” she said. “I don’t want to leave any shuttle, I don’t like to miss the shuttle.” And she played like that.
In a day of largely one-sided matches, it was men’s doubles that lived up to the billing. Malaysian men’s doubles combination of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin (who had beaten India’s Satwik-Chirag in the semifinals) outlasted the red-hot South Korean duo Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae 21-15, 13-21, 21-16. In women’s doubles, new pairing Arisa Igarashi (former mixed doubles partner of Yutanabe) and Ayaka Sakuramoto eased to a 21-15, 21-13 victory over South Korea’s Kim Hye Jang and Kong Hee Young. China asserted their dominance of the mixed doubles once more as Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin overcame Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France 21-18, 21-17.
