When Viktor Axelsen and Chen Long were drawn in the same group and scheduled to play first, the semifinal of the Denmark Open less that two months ago would be fresh in everyone’s minds.
That day the match went all the way to the wire, with Chen Long winning the deciding game 21-19. Axelsen would take some comfort in the fact that he won two out of the three matchups with Chen Long in 2019, but a tough match was always on the cards.
Today the match followed a similar blueprint with the match ending 21-17, 10-21, 21-17 to Chen Long. After the match, Axelsen shared his thoughts on what happened.
-I tried to do my best. There was quite a bit of drift which I wasn’t prepared for in the first game. But in the second game I stepped up. I don’t think I played well enough in the last part of the third game and I am pretty disappointed about that at the moment.
Tomorrow, Axelsen will face Taiwanese ace Chou Tien Chen, who defeated Anthony Ginting, 25-23 in the decider after nearly 80 minutes on court.
For the full fixtures and results, click here.