Viktor Axelsen stuns Taufik Hidayat in the round-of-16 of the 2011 Denmark Open Premier Super Series
Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen continued his remarkable run as he defeated the fifth seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the Men’s Singles round-of-16 of the 2011 Denmark Open Premier Super Series, on Thursday, October 20, at Odense, Denmark.
Axelsen, who is currently placed at number 44 in the Men’s Singles world rankings, played stunning badminton against the World Number Five Taufik and won the battle in three sets by working hard for 50 minutes.
Taufik won the opening set of the match but failed to continue his winning run in the second game. However, the Danish lived up to the expectations of the home fans as he took the remaining two games to win the fight in a convincing fashion.
The opening set of this wonderful battle was impressive when both players tried to put pressure on each other. Taufik played controlled game against the young Axelsen and remained ahead in the opening half of the first game.
After the break, the Danish tried to put up strong show but failed to reduce the gap and lost the set with a margin of 16-21 in 22 minutes.
The following game of this match was surprising for the Indonesian as Axelsen played completely different badminton and remained ahead in the whole game. The Indonesian failed to play his normal game as he failed to take the bird early. The Danish continued
his killing run in the game and finished it up with an incredible margin of 21-9 in just 13 minutes.
In the third set, Taufik tried to control the pace of the game from the starting points but failed as his rival was quicker in dominating the game. Axelsen established an early lead and maintained it without facing any considerable resistance from the Indonesian.
Axelsen’s shot selection and execution was impressive as he played planned game and won the set with a margin of 21-14 in just 15 minutes. This 50-minute battle ended-up with a 16-21, 21-9 and 21-14 score on the board.
In the quarter-final, Axelsen will take on senior team-mate, Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark, who defeated Marc Zwiebler of Germany in the previous round.
Tags: