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 profitable 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 dwelling 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 dwelling court docket.
“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 sport 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 a bit of within the second sport, which went forwards and backwards to 11-11, then Axelsen learn Kunlavut’s sport plan and pulled away, profitable on his fifth match level.
Victory redeemed Axelsen after he fell within the first spherical of the worlds final December, simply months after profitable 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 sport in beating defending champ Loh Kean Yew within the quarterfinals. However Kunlavut had by no means overwhelmed 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 enjoying one another for eight years, however Chen received a set for the primary time since 2019.”She may be very quick and I must catch up,” Chen mentioned.Yamaguchi separated from Chen of their first sport from 11-9, profitable seven of the following eight factors.
The Japanese star began pondering of the ending within the second sport and Chen jumped throughout her, however Yamaguchi refocused within the third, took her time, and repaid the Chinese language by going out to 8-1 and controlling the remainder of the ultimate. She was carried dwelling by the rousing crowd.
“I was getting a little bit emotional because the crowd was very supportive,” Yamaguchi mentioned. “It was a special moment.”
