Viktor Axelsen proves his supremacy over Sony Dwi Kuncoro in quarter-final battle at Singapore Open
Denmark’s young and passionate shuttler Viktor Axelsen showed his impressive temperament as he ended the winning run of Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro at the Men’s Singles quarter-final of Singapore Open Super Series 2012 on Friday, June 22, in Singapore.
Axelsen, who is current placed at number 29 in world rankings, put up superb show of positive and aggressive badminton and overpowered the World Number 36 Kuncoro who has been playing impressive badminton for the last three weeks.
The higher ranked Axelsen played to his maximum potential and managed to end the winning streak of Kuncoro in an interesting straight set quarter-final contest by taking 54 minutes in the court.
The major difference between both shuttlers in the opening game was the impressive net play and powerful smashes of Axelsen who remained in wonderful control of the pace and dictated his rival in all areas of the court.
Until the one-minute interval, the higher ranked Danish was slightly ahead of Kuncoro on the score board.
However, after the break, the Axelsen injected more power into his shots and earned many points with his well directed and beautifully placed smashes.
The Danish stretched his lead by playing positive badminton and eventually clinched the first game with a reasonable margin of 21-17.
In the second game, Axelsen again showed his class by playing with precision and managed to set up a tremendous lead of 11-6 on the score board until the one-minute break.
After the mid-game interval, Axelsen remained consistent without dropping his speed at any stage and reached at 20-16 when Kuncoro showed his class and saved four match points to level the score at 20-20.
Both men progressed at the same pace until 24-24 when Axelsen executed a powerful over the head smash and reached at 25-24.
At this stage Kuncoro made a crucial unforced error by sending the bird into the net which helped Axelsen to win the second game with a dramatic margin of 26-24.
The in-form Axelsen registered a sensational victory over Kuncoro by ending up the quarter-final contest in straight games with a 21-17 and 26-24 score on the board.
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