Two-time Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen cruises to first Hong Kong Open title
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HONG KONG – Two-time Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen cruised to his maiden Hong Kong Open title on Sept 15, defeating China’s Lei Lanxi 21-9, 21-12.
The Dane had not dropped a game all week in his first tournament since retaining his Tokyo Games gold in Paris
It was the world No. 2’s second Badminton World Federation tour title in 2024 following his win at May’s Malaysia Masters and he said he was “a bit surprised but happy”, because maintaining his form since the Olympics had been “stressful”.
“I managed to play very aggressively, but also with a great balance to my game,” he told AFP, biting into a traditional mooncake – a gift from fans for the Mid-Autumn Festival, a national holiday in China this week.
Lei, in only his second tour-level final, made a bright start to both games but the 26-year-old soon found it tough to keep pace with Axelsen, who became the first Dane to lift the men’s singles title in Hong Kong since Peter Gade in 1997.
In the women’s singles, China’s Han Yue confirmed her status as a rising star after the 24-year-old outplayed Indonesia’s unseeded Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-18, 21-7.
The mixed doubles was an all-China clash, with Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin edging out Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping 21-17, 21-19.
Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, runners-up a year ago, secured the women’s doubles title 21-14, 21-14 against China’s Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning.
South Korea’s Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae won the men’s doubles 21-13, 21-17 against Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani from Indonesia. AFP
