Odense: Badminton fans must be in a frenzy over the meeting of World No. 1 Kento Momota and World No. 2 Viktor Axelsen in the 2021 Denmark Open final on Sunday.
The 2018, 2019 Denmark Open champion, Kento Momota, continued to slowly work his way back to his best form after so many unfortunate things had happened to him in the past two years, including the fatal car accident in Malaysia that occurred in Jan 2020, and had to undergo surgery to repair his broken right eye socket as a result of the car accident.
Interestingly, the fatal car accident happened just a few hours after Momota defeated Axelsen 24-22, 21-11 in the PERODUA 2020 Malaysia Masters final on Jan 12, 2020. That was also the last face-off between the two best men’s singles players in the world right now. Momota was also diagnosed with COVID-19 positive in early 2021.
Facing the 2015 Denmark Open finalist, Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia on Saturday, Momota gave the Indonesian a masterclass with strong smashes, impenetrable defense, and quick tempo to ease past Sugiarto 21-7, 21-12 to set up a dream final clash with Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, Viktor Axelsen.
The No. 2 seed Viktor Axelsen also produced an equally impressive performance against Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong in the semi-finals, grind-it-out excellence at the cross-court smashes alongside his drop shots mainly targeting Lee’s right frontcourt to win 21-9, 21-11. Axelsen wrapped up the proceeding after Lee’s forehand return found the net.
Prior to Sunday’s final, Momota held a completely one-sided head-to-head meeting record against Axelsen with 14-1. Axelsen’s only win against Momota was at the 2014 German Open. Another person who held a similar career head-to-head record against Axelsen was the badminton legend – Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. Lee earned an 11-3 head-to-head record against Axelsen.
Nevertheless, it’s hard to say who could walk away with the victory on Sunday as Axelsen is clearly at the prime of his career right now, and Momota is still in the process of regaining his best form.
Besides Axelsen, Denmark also has a representative in the men’s doubles final. Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen were made to work by Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia, before winning the semi-final match 21-11, 19-21, 21-18.
This would be the first time a Danish men’s doubles pair has ever reached the Denmark Open final after Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen did it in the 2010 Denmark Super Series. Boe/Mogensen defeated Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-13, 21-12 to clinch the 2010 title.
The Denmark Open semi-finals kicked off on Saturday morning (Denmark time) with an upset in the mixed doubles when the Olympic bronze medalists – Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino of Japan beat the Olympic gold medalists – Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping of China 16-21, 21-17, 21-17. Watanabe/Higashino will play Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand in the final.
In other finals, Huang Dong Ping/Zheng Yu of China will meet Lee Sohee/Shin Seungchan of Korea in the women’s doubles final while An Seyoung will face off against Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles final.
