Viktor Axelsen suffers shock defeat in All England badminton first round
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Denmark's Viktor Axelsen was aiming for a third All England title, but will now take a break from badminton.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BIRMINGHAM – Dane Viktor Axelsen’s quest for a third All England title ended on March 12 as he lost 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi in a big first-round upset.
The 31-year-old Axelsen, one of the favourites to win the tournament, told Danish broadcaster TV2 he would take a break from the sport.
“I didn’t have the best feeling out there. I think it’ll be a while before I’m back on court,” he said.
“I don’t want to go into details. I think a longer break is ahead for me.”
The world No. 4 won the All England title in 2020 and 2022, and he is a two-time Olympic champion, two-time world Champion, and four-time European Champion.
Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second.
The Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider, however, as Lin reeled off six points in a row en route to sealing the win.
“If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen.
“Today’s opponent played a fantastic game, it was disappointing but that is how it is.
“I just tried to survive in the match. There is always a lot of pressure when I am here at the All England and every single day, and I got tense when my body was feeling bad and it affected my entire game.”
India’s two-time Olympic medallist P. V. Sindhu also made a surprise early exit, bowing out 19-21, 21-13 ,21-13 in the women’s singles first round to Kim Ga-eun of South Korea.
The world No. 21 will next face fourth-ranked Han Yue of China in the last 16.
Meanwhile, world No. 26 Yushi Tanaka got the better of eighth seed Kodai Naraoka 21-13, 15-21, 21-9 in an all-Japanese men’s match.
His reward is a clash against 22nd-ranked Lee Chia Hao of Chinese Taipei.
Top-seeded South Korean and 2023 winner An Se-young made serene progress with a 21-16 21-14 win over 15th-ranked Gao Fangjie of China.
World No. 1 An has been in imperious form, winning all three of her tournaments in 2025. She will next face world No. 33 Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland.
Former champion Chen Yufei also advanced with a 21-10, 21-18 win over Denmark’s Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt and her Chinese compatriot and second seed Wang Zhiyi knocked out two-time winner Nozomi Okuhara 21-6, 21-9.
Wang will next face Taiwanese Hsu Wen-Chi while Chen is up against Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani.
The 27-year-old Chen took a break after being losing in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics in August and only returned to the international stage in February. REUTERS, AFP, XINHUA
