NEW DELHI , MAR 31,
Viktor Axelsen continues to be on a roll. Looking fiercely determined to win back his World No. 1 spot, the lanky Dane got the measure of K. Srikanth after saving two game-points to regain the men’s singles in the India Open badminton here on Sunday.
The World No. 4, who won 15 straight points to open a 3-0 lead in the second game, battled from 18-20 down to win 21-7, 22-20. This was Srikanth’s fourth defeat to Axelsen in five encounters since March 2017.
After Srikanth failed to retrieve from his back-hand, Axelsen was quick to toss away his racquet and black tee-shirt into the crowd. In the time between he won the match and received the trophy, medal and the cheque of $26,500, Axelsen kept pumping his fist in jubilation, a reflection of what it meant for him to the title again.
In 2017, Axelsen won here and went on to claim the World title. So far this year, he has figured in three finals, winning the Spain Masters and here besides finishing runner-up in the All England championships.
On a day of one-sided finals, the 2013 champion and former World champion Ratchanok Intanon, too, regained the women singles the title by stopping China’s He Bingjiao 21-15, 21-14 in a contest that did not rise to expectations.
For Srikanth, who won in 2015 by beating Axelsen in the final, the biggest takeaway from the 36-minute defeat was the way he could fight back from 9-12 in the second game to hold two game-points.
