Tokyo, 29 August, /AJMEDIA/
Viktor Axelsen underlined his red-hot form and confidence when he won his second world badminton championship after beating first-time finalist Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-5, 21-16 on Sunday.
Axelsen ran his winning streak to 37 matches, not having lost since March.
Akane Yamaguchi won her second straight women’s world title after overcoming Olympic champion Chen Yufei 21-12, 10-21, 21-14.
Yamaguchi surprisingly didn’t medal in her home Olympics in Tokyo a year ago but has rebounded with consecutive world crowns and the undisputed No. 1 ranking.
Axelsen added to his first world title in 2017 by not dropping a game 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 said.
The Dane sprinted from the start of the final, reaching 7-1. Kunlavut closed to 7-4 but Axelsen won the next nine points.
He stiffened a little in the second game, which went back and forth to 11-11, then Axelsen read Kunlavut’s game plan and pulled away, winning on his fifth match point.
Victory redeemed Axelsen after he fell in the first round of the worlds last December, just months after winning the Tokyo Olympics gold medal.
Kunlavut, a three-time world junior champion, was the first Thai man to reach the final. En route, he dropped only one game in beating defending champ Loh Kean Yew in the quarterfinals. But Kunlavut had never beaten Axelsen in four previous matches.
“It’s so difficult to play with him but I want to learn so it’s OK (losing),” Kunlavut said.
Yamaguchi separated from Chen in their first game from 11-9, winning seven of the next eight points.
Chen jumped on Yamaguchi at the start of the second game — the first conceded by the Japanese star in the tournament — and Yamaguchi repaid the Chinese in the third, going out to 8-1 and controlling the rest of the final from there.
