Viktor Axelsen lost his last group match at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2022 to H.S. Prannoy from India but still advances to the semifinals as number one in his group. Gicquel/Delrue lose in dramatic thriller and miss the semifinals after blowing five match points. 

Seeing Viktor Axelsen not win a match feels just weird in 2022. His 21-14, 17-21, 18-21 loss to H.S. Prannoy (India) was only the third defeat of the year going along with as many as 49 wins. It also had no real effect as Axelsen still advanced to the knock-out stage as number one of his group.

In tomorrow's semifinals, Axelsen will play once again against Kodai Naraoka from Japan. Both have already faced each other on Thursday in group stage with Axelsen winning 21-5, 21-15 in 33 minutes. 

Dramatic mixed doubles showdown

Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue were facing a win-or-go-home kind of match when stepping on court today against Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Mentari (Indonesia). Both pairs recorded one win and one loss so far and only the winner of the today's match would advance to the semifinals. 

The French pair started strong and took the first game 21-14. The second game was tied at 16-16 when the Indonesians started a run to to win 21-17 and equalise the match at one game each. 

In the deciding third game, Gicquel/Delrue pulled away at 13-13 to lead 19-15 and having match points at 20-17. But Rivaldy/Mentari fought back and survived five match points before using their first match point to win 24-22. 

Astrup/Rasmussen end the year in style 

Until today, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen have not been happy with their performance at this World Tour Finals at all. After losing both of their group matches they did not have a chance to make it to the semifinals anymore.

"Obviously not the way we wanted this World Tour Finals to go. Tomorrow is the last chance to get some sort of redemption. We will do our best, and hopefully end this trip on a better note", stated Kim Astrup in an Instagram post after yesterday's match. 

This plan worked out quite well. The Danes showed a great performance today against the reigning world champions Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik from Malaysia. After 45 minutes of play Astrup/Rasmussen celebrated their 21-19 23-21 victory and finished this year's World Tour Finals as number three of their group. 

Find all results here.

Watch tomorrow's semifinals at the BWF YouTube channel. Matches start at 5:00AM CET with Viktor Axelsen playing the ninth match on Court 1.