Singapore Open: Viktor Axelsen gives shocking treatment to Sho Sasaki in Men’s Singles first round
Denmark’s young shuttler Viktor Axelsen showed his impressive craft in the court while playing against his higher ranked rival Sho Sasaki of Japan and won the Men’s Singles first round at the Singapore Open Super Series 2012 in Singapore, on Wednesday, June
20.
The World Number 22 Axelsen, who has been struggling at international stage for the last few months, put up thrilling show and stunned the top seeded Sasaki who is currently placed at number 6 in the world.
The lower ranked Axelsen was at his best as he played remarkable badminton against Sasaki and managed to win the battle in three games by taking 48 minutes in the court.
The top seeded Sasaki, on the other hand, failed to live up to expectations as he could not handle the aggression of his Danish rival in the opening game. However, he managed to win the second game by playing to his maximum speed. But he remained struggling
in the deciding set and lost the battle with a decent margin.
In the first game, Axelsen was incredible in his speed and shot selection and he did not show any respect to his higher ranked Japanese opponent. Until the break, Axelsen was leading the score board with a fascinating margin of 11-4.
After the break, the Danish player remained on track as he did not let Sasaki to narrow the gap and easily won the game with a 21-10 score on the board.
In the second set, Sasaki showed his class by playing positive and composed badminton and did not repeat his mistakes in the court.
The top seeded Japanese was in full control this time as he played with precision against Axelsen who committed many errors in the court and lost the game with a margin of 15-21.
In the deciding set, the lower ranked Danish became aggressive as he playing attacking shots from the opening points and maintained his power play throughout the set.
The Danish managed to win the deciding game in a sensational fashion by a one-sided score of 21-12.
Axelsen emerged as the winner in this Men’s Singles first round clash against Sasaki with a 21-10, 15-21 and 21-12 score on the board.
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