Viktor Axelsen stuns Bao Chunlai in Men’s Singles round-of-16 of Singapore Open Super Series 2011
Denmark’s talented shuttler, Viktor Axelsen, stunned the experienced Bao Chunlai of China, in the Men’s Singles round-of-16 contest at the Singapore Open Super Series 2011, in Singapore, on June 16, 2011.
The Danish shuttler, who started his journey in this event as a qualifier, clinched the straight-set match in 42 minutes by playing remarkable badminton against Chunlai, who thrashed the defending champion, Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in the opening round
of the event.
The first game was one of the most thrilling fights of the day at the indoor stadium in Singapore, when both shuttlers were neck-to-neck in the first-half of the game. It was a match of the highest standard, where the spirited Danish made the Chinese work
hard to get every single point. Nobody could build a comfortable gap in the first-half of the set.
After the break, the seventh seed Chunlai, who is also the World Number Nine, tried to gear up his speed but Viktor refused to play under pressure, as his diving defensive shots spared no room for the Chinese to score points. The score was 21-21 when the
Danish played with incredible aggression and managed to win the set by a 23-21 difference, in 24 minutes.
In the second game of this entertaining encounter, Viktor was impressive against the confused Chinese who was not finding any chance to dominate the pace of the game. The aggressive Danish reached at 11-7 in a flash by playing an incredibly fast match.
Chunlai failed to break the flow of Viktor, as the Chinese made many unforced errors which put him in trouble. The Danish was playing with considerable ease, as his control over the strokes was impressive.
Viktor took only 18 minutes in the second set of the match to beat the senior Chinese with a 21-15 score on the board. The Danish won the two-set battle with a margin of 23-21 and 21-15, in 42 minutes.
In the quarter-final, Viktor will fight against either Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia or Wang Zhengming of China.
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