The BWF World Tour has come to Europe, and all eyes are on Odense where the world’s best will be re-emerging after a break in the calendar to showcase their skills. In the last three Denmark Opens, we have seen a new title holder in each event, so it will be interesting to see if this tradition continues.
One player who would particularly want this to be the case is Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen. After a terrific start to 2019, where semifinals and finals were coming easily, with notable results such as the All England Open final and India Open title win, things then dipped a little. This was due to some persistent injuries which forced a break from badminton.
Axelsen made a comeback last month which by his high standards was not successful. Where better to make your big return to form than a home tournament. Axelsen comes in this tournament as seventh seed, and has drawn Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the opening round. Axelsen has the recent memory of defeating Nishimoto twice in 2018, although both matches were good battles to the very end.
Returning to the same level after an injury for any athlete is tough. Axelsen can take inspiration from Spain’s Carolina Marin, who won the China Open shortly after her return from a long lay-off. But most importantly he can use the great support from the crowd to his advantage.
Antonsen, again?
The man who knocked Axelsen out of the running in last year’s Denmark Open second round, is compatriot Anders Antonsen and could prove to be a big test this week. Antonsen, who now finds himself as fourth seed coming into this year’s renewal and reached the semifinal stage in this a year ago, will be hoping to go at least one better this time around.
However, in order to create the all-Danish re-match, the first and second round matches need to be completed. Antonsen will first face India’s number nine in the world Srikanth Kidambi. They have met only once before at the World Championships in 2017, with Kidambi taking the win in two games. However, this time Antonsen, the current World Championships silver medallist, is a very different proposition.
If either player can do the business on home soil, they will be the first singles player to do it since Jan O Jorgensen in 2010.
For the full seeded entries list and draws, click
here.