Barcelona: Denmark’s men’s singles No. 1 seed Viktor Axelsen has moved into the final of the 2020 Spain Masters with a 21-10, 21-19 win over Malaysia’s Daren Liew on Saturday.
Liew lost the first game easily to Axelsen. However, the Malaysian played some brilliant badminton in the second set, leading the Dane 10-3, 17-12 before allowing Axelsen to score 6 consecutive points to reverse the lead at 18-17. Axelsen then went on to finish the second set 21-19 and cruised into the final.
Axelsen will face Thailand’s three-times (2017, 2018 and 2019) World Junior champion, Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the final.
In men’s doubles, Malaysia’s No. 2 seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik fought hard to come back from 10-16 to tie the score at 19-19 in the second set. Unfortunately, the Malaysian pair couldn’t win the second set and force a decider, losing to No. 4 seeds Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 16-21, 22-24 in 41 minutes.
Astrup/Rasmussen will take on No. 1 seeds, Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan next.
Meanwhile, home favorite Carolina Marin of Spain had an easy semi-final match over Thailand’s Supanida Katethong, winning 21-16, 21-16 to set up a final clash with 22-year-old Thai player, Pornpawee Chochuwong on Sunday.
