New Delhi: Denmark’s No. 3 seed Viktor Axelsen who lost to Kidambi Srikanth in the 2015 India Open final and lost to Kento Momota in the 2016 India Open final, has reached his third straight India Open final on Saturday.
Playing with strong smashes and dominating from start to finish, the Dane was in complete control in the semi-final against No. 6 seed Angus Ng Ka Long, beating Ng 21-12, 21-13 in just 29 minutes. Axelsen will meet No. 7 seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the final.
“My game plan was trying to not lift the shuttle to him, and also being fast at the front court, and it worked well,” said Axelsen.
“I am disappointed that Anders couldn’t make it to the final, because I want to see all the Danes in the final. However, I think Chou is playing well, and I have to be ready,” added Axelsen.
Taiwanese badminton star Chou Tien Chen continued the momentum that has seen him win the Yonex German Open and reach the semifinals of the Yonex All England Open. The Taiwanese player battled past World No. 26 Anders Antonsen of Denmark 21-17, 21-14 in 46 minutes to earn an India Open final berth.
Both Indonesian men’s doubles pairs had to play hard in before winning their respective semi-final matches on Saturday. The 2017 All England winners and No. 4 seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo outplayed No. 7 seeds Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding of Denmark 21-14, 18-21, 21-9 to set up a final clash with compatriots No. 6 seeds Ricky Karandasuwardi/Angga Pratama of Indonesia.
Ricky Karandasuwardi/Angga Pratama pulled off extraordinary triumph in three-set thriller against No. 5 seeds Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen of China, winning the semi-final match 21-16, 13-21, 21-16 in 46 minutes.
Malaysia’s mixed doubles No. 4 seeds Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying provided a walkover to top seed Zheng Siwei/Chen Qingchen in the semi-finals as Goh was not feeling well on Saturday.
Zheng/Chen will play No. 2 seeds and the 2017 All England winners Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong in the final.
