World Tour Finals: Antonsen clinches the title in style, halting an unbeatable Axelsen

Anders Antonsen, men's singles winner of BWF World Tour Finals 2020 season

In an all Danish final at the BWF World Tour Finals Viktor Axelsen vs Anders Antonsen, one could expect an intense match. However, Axelsen was a favourite for various reasons. His beautiful style of play, crosscourt smashes, and to win a hattrick at Thailand with his unbeatable streak for 379 days.

The first half of the first game was really close, both pushing each other to all the corners of the court. Antonsen picked up a lead in the mid-game interval and kept it up. He was agressive and attacking Axelsen giving less reaction time and opportuinies to counter-attack. Errors came in from Axelsen too. Anders thereby took the first game 21-16. Axelsen suffered a slip in the first game while lunging along the backhand net corner causing him to almost fall. This could have been a potential injury or played on him mentally making him conscious about his movement as he has been operated in the past on the ankles.

Turnaround by Axelsen

It was a dominant game for Axelsen in the second set. Axelsen picked up an early lead 5-0, which widened to 11-1. Axelsen played his normal, but Ander seemed completely off focus, committing a series of errors. The umpire called him to check if he is okay and warned him to play at his best in the good spirit of the sport. However, the game went Viktor’s way 21-15.

FS Video

Antonsen made a comeback in the third game, attacking his senior full throttle. He went all out on the attack. It might have been the nerves, pressure and build-up of fatigue over the past few weeks that may have caught up on Axelsen which resulted in a performance lower than expected. Also, it definitely is a huge task to make it to the finals three times in three consecutive weeks. The first half of the decider was close, both Danes attacking each other, going for rallies, and some good shots. Anders went into a two-point lead by the mid-game interval. He widened the gap to 15-9. Axelsen then upped the pace and came back level 16-16 and even went to a lead with 17-16. However, a series of error and some masterstrokes by Antonsen led him to convert the match 21-17.

Axelsen’s unbeaten run came to an end. He had won 4 titles back to back in those he participated: Barcelona Spain Masters 2020, All England Open 2020, Yonex Thailand Open 2020, Toyota Thailand Open 2020. Antonsen had won the Denmark Open 2020. Antonsen lifted the prize beating his senior who was in great form, at the valuable BWF World Tour Finale, making it a sweet start of the year for him.

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