DANE AXELSEN CONQUERS ALL ENGLAND
World No 7 shuttler takes out Taiwan’s Tien Chen for title
VIKTOR Axelsen became the first Dane to win the All England title for 21 years when he beat Taiwan’s top seed Chou Tien Chen with ease in Birmingham on Sunday.
In the women’s singles final Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying toppled World No 1 Chen Yufei to secure a hat-trick of titles at the event.
Axelsen was in scintillating form to win 21-13 21-14, making up for his loss in last year’s final.
The 26-year-old World No 7 was dominant throughout to claim the title. The last Dane to win the prestigious event was Peter Gade in 1999.
“This means a lot to me — it is a big, big, big dream come true and it’s up there with all my biggest achievements in my career so far,” he said. “Right now I’m both happy and really emotional — it’s just crazy.”
The tournament continued despite pretty much all sporting action being curtailed in Britain and across the world because of Covid-19 — a decision criticised by Axelsen’s compatriot HansKristian Vittinghus who described it as “making no sense.”
Axelsen, however, took a different view.
“Hopefully this (coming on a weekend with a lot of sport cancelled because of Covid-19) can help make badminton a more visible sport in this country,” he added.
The All England event counts towards Olympics qualification, with the ranking lists on April 28 deciding which players will be involved in the Tokyo tournament. As of yesterday, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) have suspended all tournaments until April 12 in light of the pandemic — meaning the Swiss Open, India Open, Malaysia Open and Singapore Open will not take place.
Tzu Ying, runner-up to Chen last year, signed off on a high though as she won 21-19 21-15 to take the women’s crown.
Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota beat China’s Du Yue-Li Yinhui 21-13, 21-15 to win the women’s doubles while Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti won the mixed doubles final by overcoming Thai third seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-15, 17-21, 21-8.
In the men’s doubles final, Japan’s Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe defeated Indonesia’s Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 21-18, 12-21, 21-19.