Big dream come true for Dane

LONDON • In his words, Viktor Axelsen will remember Sunday "for the rest of my life" after he became the first Dane to win the All England Open men's singles title in 21 years.

The world No. 7 was in scintillating form as he beat Chinese Taipei's top seed Chou Tien-chen 21-13, 21-14 in Birmingham.

The last Dane to win the prestigious event was Peter Gade in 1999.

Axelsen's victory also meant that he made up for his loss in last year's final to world No. 1 Kento Momota, who was absent after eye surgery.

In women's singles, Chou's compatriot Tai Tzu-ying toppled world No. 1 Chen Yufei of China to secure a hat-trick of All England titles.

"This means a lot to me - it is a big, big, big dream come true and it's up there with all my biggest achievements in my career so far," Axelsen, 26, said after his maiden success in a Super 1000 event.

"Right now I'm both happy and really emotional - it's just crazy. It's a day I'll remember for the rest of my life. I want to thank the crowd so much for their support this week."

The tournament continued despite nearly all sporting action being curtailed in Britain and across the world because of the coronavirus crisis - a decision criticised by Axelsen's compatriot Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, who described it as "making no sense".

But Axelsen took a different view.

He said: "Hopefully this (coming on a weekend with a lot of sports cancelled because of Covid-19) can help make badminton a more visible sport in this country.

"I just hope everybody managed to stay safe, and I'm happy that we managed to be able to play this week, and I hope everything will get under control quickly."

The All England event counts towards Olympic qualification, with the ranking lists on April 28 deciding which players will be involved in the Tokyo tournament.

As of yesterday, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) suspended all tournaments until April 12 in the light of the pandemic - meaning the Swiss Open, India Open, Malaysia Open and Singapore Open (April 7-12) are off.

Tai, runner-up to Chen last year, signed off on a high as she won 21-19, 21-15 to add to her titles in 2017 and 2018.

"I'm very familiar with playing against Chen as I've played against her so many times, and I've performed well against her," she said, referring to her 15-3 record.

"I put her under pressure today, and I'm very happy that I was able to control the rallies well."

In the men's doubles, Japan's Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe defeated Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia 21-18, 12-21, 21-19.

Their compatriots Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota beat China's Du Yue and Li Yinhui 21-13, 21-15 to win the women's doubles.

The mixed doubles went to Indonesians Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti, who beat Thai third seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-15, 17-21, 21-8.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS