Many top-ranked players and pairs delivered on semifinals day at the KFF Singapore Badminton Open. Viktor Axelsen was not one of them after making a tough call to withdraw.

In the men’s singles, fans were looking forward to witnessing an in-form Viktor Axelsen play the semifinal today, having won the Malaysia Masters last week. However, it wasn’t to be. 

Axelsen, like all players this week, had to adapt to the famously challenging conditions in the arena, coming through a couple of touch-and-go three-game matches with Lakshya Sen and Lin Chun-Yi.

On a number of occasions, the Dane inspected his right ankle during his match against Lin, even briefly asking for medical attention. 

Before his semifinal against China’s Li Shi Feng, who knocked out the Singaporean star, Loh Kean Yew, and would have been the first encounter against each other, Axelsen wrote to his fans.

-During my second round I made a small rollover on my right ankle. Initially I felt fine and yesterday it was nothing but a bit of soreness. However, this morning I have woken up with increasing pain and after consulting with the medical team I have been advised to rest my ankle and will therefore not be able to step on court today. It's obviously very disappointing as I would love to continue my run here. Sorry to all the Singaporean badminton fans, and thanks for your support! See you next year.

The world number one added that he will try his very best to be available for the Indonesian Open next week!

The former world number ones and All England Open Champions from March, Fajar Alfian/ Muhammad Rian Ardianto, are in another final after going missing for several months. The Indonesian pair took on last week’s winners in Malaysia, Kim Astrup/ Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

Flying out of the blocks, Alfian/ Ardianto took the opener, only for the Danes to capitalise on the change of ends and force a decider. The Indonesians managed the game well, predicting that Astrup/ Rasmussen may not have much left in the tank after a lot of badminton this past few weeks, winning 21-11, 16-21, 21-12. 

There is a brilliant finals day schedule to look forward to as the top stars are planning to lay down a marker before the upcoming Paris Olympics. 

It’s number one versus number two in the women’s singles as An Se Young takes on Chen Yu Fei for the first time this year. 

A mouth-watering women’s doubles pair as Chen Qing Chen/ Jia Yi Fan, the ones to beat, take on Japan’s in-form Nami Matsuyama/ Chiharu Shida. Both times they have played this year it’s been settings in the deciding game!

Shi Yu Qi does battle with Li Shi Feng for the men’s singles title, while China’s He Ji Ting/ Ren Xiang Yu will look to stop Fajar Alfian/ Muhammad Rian Ardianto. In the mixed doubles, Zheng Si Wei/ Huang Ya Qiong are looking to do what they do best. 

For the full results and fixtures, click here.