Viktor Axelsen's run continues and the Dane is just one win away from the Malaysia Open title held by the one and only Lin Dan.
The Olympic Champion had a 10 out of 10 performance in Indonesia, taking both the Indonesia Masters and Open titles, and this week looks likely to add a Malaysia Open, a tournament he hasn't won before and would be the first European to take the men's singles title since Peter Gade in 2007, who is in Kuala Lumpur this week as part of the Legends Tour.
Perhaps suprisingly, another now retired legend, Lin Dan, is the current reigning Malaysia Open champion from 2019, defeating 12-time winner Lee Chong Wei in the final. Subsequent editions in 2020 and 2021 did not take place.
Axelsen was forced to go to three games twice this week against Hongkonger Lee Cheuk Yiu and Anthony Ginting, but always finished strongly in the third game. It was the same against Jonatan Christie in the semifinal with the Indonesian coming from behind to force a decider and even started brightly, skipping in excitement to retrieve the shuttle at the net following winning rallies.
However, Axelsen's calmness and game management kicked in and he was able to accelerate away towards his fifth final in 2022, winning 21-15 20-22 21-11.
A final for the fans
It has been a while, but the fans will get to finally enjoy another Viktor Axelsen - Kento Momota final. The two were building a formidable rivalry, however, fans missed the hotly anticipated clash at the Tokyo Olympics last year and saw Momota struggle to regain his form while Axelsen has risen to the top.
In their seventeenth match against each other, we will see a battle of the two former world champions. Two things are certain, a greatly anticipated match and a newly crowned Malaysian Open champion.
The finals
XD - Dechapol Puavaranukroh/ Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA) vs Zheng Si Wei/ Huang Ya Qiong
WD - Apriyani Rahayu/ Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (INA)vs Zhang Shu Xian/ Zheng Yu
WS - Ratchanok Intanon (THA) vs Chen Yu Fei (CHN)
MS - Viktor Axelsen (DEN) vs Kento Momota (JPN)
MD - Fajar Alfian/ Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA) vs Takuro Hoki/ Yugo Kobayashi (JPN)