Denmark's Viktor Axelsen hits a return to Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus during the men's singles quarterfinal match of the BWF World Tour China Masters 2024 badminton tournament in Shenzhen, in southern China's Guangdong province, on November 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP) / China OUT
PETALING JAYA: It was a day of upsets in the men's singles in the China Masters when both the world No. 1 and No. 2 fell in the semi-finals.
World No. 2 Viktor Axelsen went down fighting to world No. 3 Anders Antonsen 21-16, 21-9, 20-22 in an all-Danish match, lasting 81 minutes at the Shenzhen Gymnasium yesterday.
Axelsen saved four match points while trailing 16-20 but could not stop his teammate from claiming his fourth win in 10 meetings against each other.
Antonsen was relieved to come away with the win after allowing the two-time Olympic champion back in the game.
"I was so nervous during those match points and I almost threw it away," said Antonsen.
"I got lucky. Axelsen could have won. I just kept believing in myself, fought hard and succeeded."
Antonsen now has an opportunity to capture his fourth World Tour title this year after winning the Malaysian Open, Indonesian Masters and Denmark Open.
Standing in his way in the final is Indonesia's world No. 6 Jonatan Christie, who stunned home favourite and world No. 1 Shi Yuqi 21-17, 21-16.
Jonatan, who is chasing a spot in the prestigious World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou, was on top of his game as he triumphed over Yuqi for the ninth time in their past 15 encounters.
In the final, Antonsen might be higher ranked but the Indonesian has the upper hand based on the head-to-head records as he has come out on top over the Dane six times in nine meetings.
Antonsen believes he will the underdog against Jonatan in the final.
"I have the utmost respect for Jonatan. He has been phenomenal this week and played well against Yuqi," said Antonsen.
"I played him last year in the World Tour Finals and lost in straight games. I will go into the final as the underdog and I just want to do my best."
RESULTS
Semi-finals
Men's singles: Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Viktor Axelsen (Den) 16-21, 21-9, 22-20; Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 21-17, 21-16.
Women's singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-5, 22-20; Gao Fangjie (Chn) bt Supanida Katethong (Tha) 21-16, 21-15.
Women's doubles: Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) 21-12, 21-17.
Mixed doubles: Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin (Mas) bt Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 21-14, 17-21, 21-19; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) 21-18, 21-13.
Quarter-finals
Men's singles: Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 21-18, 21-15.
Men's doubles: Jin Yong-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 20-22, 21-15, 21-14; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) 21-16, 21-19.
