Axelsen Storms into Final – All England: Day 4
The reigning world champion will take on his predecessor in the men’s singles summit clash of the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2019 on Sunday.
· DEV SUKUMAR
After Kento Momota had booked his place earlier today, 2017 world champion Viktor Axelsen followed him with a decimation of reigning titlist Shi Yuqi, 22-20 13-21 21-9.
The Dane was in fearsome form, out-hustling his opponent through most of the match. Nothing that Shi did threw Axelsen off-track – the Dane was brilliant in anticipating Shi’s drop shots and the smashes down the flanks, and pounced on any opening that flashed by. A slight dip in intensity late in the first and in the second didn’t affect him, and he rocketed to an early lead in the third that effectively buried Shi’s chances.
“It’s a feeling that all the hard work is worth it, and you are in a zone and you get a lot of joy when you win. I’m happy I managed to stay calm after a pretty bad second game, I put up a good defence and a good offence, and I waited for the right chances.”