On Sunday, still far from his best, Axelsen dismantled Lee Cheuk Yiu 21-16, 21-8 to bag his third India Open men’s singles crown, 10 years after reaching the final here for the first time. (BAI)
Late night on Saturday, Viktor Axelsen emerged from a tough old battle against Jonatan Christie in the semifinal at the India Open, and told the media: “I am a human being, not a machine.” At the peak of his career, especially in the cycle between his two Olympic gold medals, he was destroying opponents for fun as he piled up the titles on tour. So much so you wondered if he really was a machine.
But the Axelsen we saw in Delhi was, as he put it, human. The struggles, physical and emotional, were evident. That is why, after winning the title on Sunday, Axelsen looked at the gold medal around his neck, paused, took a couple of seconds to compose himself, and said this would be a ‘very, very special’ win in his decorated career.
He came into the tournament with “zero preparations” and on the back of a rare first-round exit at the season-opener in Malaysia. Three of his five matches went to three games. He literally spanked himself on the court after missing a point during his quarterfinal win and later joked that he felt pretty heavy as if carrying a few extra kilos in his shorts that made him slower than Loh Kean Yew. “I didn’t even have butter chicken last night, so I don’t know why, but my legs came back after that.” He then broke a racket in the match against Christie (that prompted the above remark) and said he wasn’t proud of it.
On Sunday, still far from his best, Axelsen dismantled Lee Cheuk Yiu 21-16, 21-8 to bag his third India Open men’s singles crown, 10 years after reaching the final here for the first time. “I’ve struggled a little bit post-Olympics with injuries, training and my motivation a little bit has been lacking. But this week I felt like a competitor out there. I dug deep in every single match and found a solution. That’s why this means a lot. It gives me a lot of motivation again which I’ve been lacking a little bit since the Olympics,” he said.
Invincible An
Another Olympic champion was also on the podium, as An Se Young – as she had been all week – looked invincible and outplayed Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-12, 21-9. If Axelsen’s was a journey of struggle, An’s was one of perfection and finding happiness on court again after the controversy surrounding her remarks against the Korean badminton association after her Paris gold. “I want to play the perfect game,” she said. “I don’t want to leave any shuttle, I don’t like to miss the shuttle.” And she played like that.
In a day of largely one-sided matches, it was men’s doubles that lived up to the billing. Malaysian men’s doubles combination of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin (who had beaten India’s Satwik-Chirag in the semifinals) outlasted the red-hot South Korean duo Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae 21-15, 13-21, 21-16. In women’s doubles, new pairing Arisa Igarashi (former mixed doubles partner of Yutanabe) and Ayaka Sakuramoto eased to a 21-15, 21-13 victory over South Korea’s Kim Hye Jang and Kong Hee Young. China asserted their dominance of the mixed doubles once more as Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin overcame Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France 21-18, 21-17.
Warning note
The scoreline suggested dominance for Axelsen, but during the first game, he struggled with his movements against Lee. “To be honest, it didn’t feel like it was smooth sailing at all. But I started moving better and then I felt more confident,” he said. While he managed to cruise through the second game, Axelsen’s assessment that he still feels nowhere near his best is a warning sign for the rest of the tour.
“I haven’t really had a good training block for a long time, so if I can structure together like four weeks of proper training, then I feel like I can be in a better place and compete for the biggest titles,” said Axelsen, who will soon be joined by Danish great Peter Gade in Dubai as part of his coaching team. “To be in a final here, win the title for the third time… and my first final being ten years ago and then grabbing the title here in 2025, proves that I’ve been very consistent over my career and that’s something that I’m proud of.”
Axelsen, who received the loudest cheers among any overseas player from the packed stands over the weekend at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium, said this place felt like a second home. “The crowd has been amazing. I am happy I didn’t play any Indians,” he laughed. “Such a great atmosphere. This is one of those experiences which I will take with me forever.”
Two-time Olympic medallist, two-time World Champion, 132 consecutive weeks as world No 1, serial winner on the tour… Axelsen has done it all. Perhaps that’s why there was a struggle to pick himself back up after Paris. “I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish… twice,” Axelsen said this week when asked about finding motivation.
“But in order to keep hungry, I have to set myself new targets. And for me, it’s to fulfil my full potential. In my mind, I haven’t peaked yet. If you look at the big picture, I can’t come back in 10 years and say I’m going to give it a chance. It’s here now. It’s now or never for me. So the last few years of my career, I will try to enjoy it as much as possible. Even though I look very serious on court and emotional sometimes, I actually enjoy playing.” Well, he’s back alright.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assistant Editor and is based in New Delhi. … Read More
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
