Viktor Axelsen underlined his red-hot kind and confidence when he received his second world badminton championship after beating first-time finalist Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-5, 21-16 .
Axelsen ran his successful streak to 37 matches, not having misplaced since March. Akane Yamaguchi received her second straight girls’s world title after overcoming Olympic champion Chen Yufei 21-12, 10-21, 21-14. Yamaguchi surprisingly didn’t medal in her residence Olympics in Tokyo a yr in the past however has rebounded with consecutive world crowns, the undisputed No. 1 rating and tears of pleasure on her residence courtroom.
“I’ve won many tournaments but I don’t think I’ve been this emotional,” she mentioned. Axelsen added to his first world title in 2017 by not dropping a recreation at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. “I was the favorite and lot of pressure was on me, but I managed to perform and I’m really proud about it,” Axelsen mentioned. The Dane sprinted from the beginning of the ultimate, reaching 7-1. Kunlavut closed to 7-4 however Axelsen received the following 9 factors. He stiffened slightly within the second recreation, which went backwards and forwards to 11-11, then Axelsen learn Kunlavut’s recreation plan and pulled away, successful on his fifth match level.
Victory redeemed Axelsen after he fell within the first spherical of the worlds final December, simply months after successful the Tokyo Olympics gold medal. Kunlavut, a three-time world junior champion, was the primary Thai man to succeed in the ultimate. En route, he dropped just one recreation in beating defending champ Loh Kean Yew within the quarterfinals. But Kunlavut had by no means crushed Axelsen in 4 earlier matches.”It’s so troublesome to play with him however I wish to study so it’s OK (dropping),” Kunlavut mentioned.
Chen was additionally philosophical after her first worlds ultimate. She and Yamaguchi have been taking part in one another for eight years, however Chen received a set for the primary time since 2019.”She could be very quick and I must catch up,” Chen mentioned.Yamaguchi separated from Chen of their first recreation from 11-9, successful seven of the following eight factors.
The Japanese star began pondering of the ending within the second recreation and Chen jumped throughout her, however Yamaguchi refocused within the third, took her time, and repaid the Chinese by going out to 8-1 and controlling the remainder of the ultimate. She was carried residence by the rousing crowd.
“I was getting a little bit emotional because the crowd was very supportive,” Yamaguchi mentioned. “It was a special moment.”
