【Hong Kong Badminton Open】Axelsen Crushes Defending Champion Son Wan Ho after Recovery from Injury

The first round matches of “YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2019” took place at Hong Kong Coliseum today (Nov 13). Viktor Axelsen, No.7 seeded Men’s Singles player from Denmark, trumped defending champion Son Wan Ho from Korea in straight sets (21:9, 21:14). Hong Kong player Angus Ng Ka-long was not able to secure victory on home soil, losing to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting from Indonesia.

Axelsen has suffered from the pain of herniated disc in the summer, and has also missed three tournaments due to pollen allergy, including the BWF World Championships held in June. Coming back to the tour in September, he reached the semi-finals in both tournaments in France and Denmark. Taking on defending champion Son Wan Ho at today’s match, Axelsen made heavy smashes leveraged on his height advantage, and took the first set convincingly at 21:9. Though Son once tied the second set at 11:11, the stable performance of Axelsen helped him to seal the match at 21:14. After advancing to the Round of 16, the Danish player will face Daren Liew from Malaysia.

Axelsen said his game improved day by day after recovery. “I had once been frustrated during injury, but I gradually came in peace and adjusted my mindset and strategies. This injury has given me a chance to restart again, putting more emphasis on details during training. I hope my game could soon return to the level before injury,” he remarked.

After defeating Anthony Sinisuka Ginting earlier this month at Fuzhou China Open, Angus Ng Ka-long from Hong Kong faced the same opponent again in the first round match of the Hong Kong Open. Ng was rather passive in the first set, with Ginting leading at 10:5 before taking the set at 21:16. Ng recovered in the second set to take the initiative and tied the match after snatching the set at 21:17. Despite once trailing behind at 6:7 in the deciding set, Ginting recovered by scoring 8 consecutive points. Albeit the support and cheers from home fans, Ng conceded defeat after losing the third set at 11:21.

Ng said after the match: “My opponent played more freely today, and he was more familiar with my game after we played against each other last week. He was also a better player today.” He added his loss today was owing to committing more unforced errors in the deciding set. Talking about the opponent-turned-new-coach, Du Pengyu, Ng said, “I welcome him to join the Hong Kong team and help me in training. He was once a high-level athlete, and he could help me in terms of skills, experience, and mindset.” As they have only worked with each other for about two months, Ng said they are still in an adjustment period, and there is still much room for improvement compared with last year’s results.

In another long-awaited Men’s Singles match, Lin Dan from China tamed Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus in 2:1.

Tickets of “YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2019” have been available for sale at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk), with the price ranging from $40 to $680. Concession tickets are available for students and senior citizens in some of the sessions.