Great Dane Axelsen leads whitewash in Thomas Cup
World badminton No.1 Viktor Axelsen led Denmark’s Thomas Cup 5-0 demolition of Algeria yesterday, as Japan’s women also breezed past Canada without dropping a set in the Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2018.
Denmark’s triumph came a day after South Korea’s men averted a spirited challenge by hosts Thailand 3-2 in Group B of the Thomas Cup battles.
Battling noisy home supporters also, the winners held strong at key junctures to withstand a game effort from the hosts who bounced back admirably after falling 2-0 down to almost force a decider in the fifth match of the tie at Muang Thong’s Impact Arena.
After Son Wan-Ho and his men’s doubles teammates, Chung Eui-Seok and Kim Duk-Young, seize the first two points for Korea, Kantaphon Wangcharoen set about giving his compatriots reason to hope for an about-turn in fortunes. He dispatched Korea’s Heo Kwang-Hee 21-19, 21-15 to give Thailand their first point.
Then in the second doubles match, Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh were two points away from levelling the tie 2-2 only to watch Kang Min-Hyuk and Kim Won-Ho wriggle out of a tight spot in the second game. The Korean pair held the lead throughout the third game to secure the decisive point for their team, prevailing 18-21, 21-19, 21-17.
It was fortunate that they were able to squeeze past their Thai rivals as Korea subsequently lost the last match, with home talent Pannawit Thongnuam ousting Ha Young-Woong 21-16, 21-19 in 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, Axelsen was in unforgiving form yesterday, losing just 12 points in a 16-minute destruction (21-4, 21-8) of Youcef Sabri Medel to begin the rout of Algeria.
Anders Antonsen dispatched Mohamed Abderrahime Belarbi 21-5, 21-9 in the second singles match, while Denmark’s doubles pairs also blitzed their unfancied rivals.
Elsewhere in Group D, Malaysia steamrolled Russia 5-0 with Lee Chong Wei setting the tone in the first game during a 21-9, 21-6 win against Vladimir Malkov.
Nozomi Okuhura got Japan’s women off to another flyer, beating Canada’s Michelle Li 21-16, 21-17, and helping her country prevail 5-0 for the second day in a row.
Japan’s women are tipped to unseat China at this year’s Uber Cup, with a strong singles and doubles line-up.
But China, who have relinquished the cup only once in the last 10 tournaments, made a strong start to their defence, dominating France 5-0.
Olympic champion Liu Xueri made a successful 21-9, 21-13 return from a knee injury against Katia Normand.