Viktor Axelsen, the Olympic champion, secured his placement into the Olympic final after a thrilling game against India’s Lakshya Sen.
Sen looked to be in control of much of the match, and was leading at many crucial points. But after defending 3 game points in the first, the Dane managed to take the first game with his own first game point ending with a 22-20 result.
In the second game, it also looked like the Indian player was in total control as he took an early lead with 7-0 but soon, Axelsen slowly caught up to him and saw himself leading at 13-12 after a correct challenge decision by the Dane. After that there was no stopping him and he went on to dominate the rest of the match, securing himself 21-14 game victory in the second game.
The victory means that Axelsen has secured his 3rd consecutive Olympic medal, the only badminton player to accomplish this feat this Olympics. Axelsen secured a bronze medal at Rio 2016 and gold at Tokyo 2020.
In the final, the world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn awaits him. The two players have met each other 7 times on previous occasions, and Vitidsarn has only been the victor once. However, that was the last time they met at the YONEX SUNRISE India Open 2023 final in a three-game victory. This will surely play into the confidence of the World Champion as he aims to make himself Olympic Champion as well.
Will Viktor get his first Olympic silver medal or his second gold medal? We will find out tomorrow, and we could not be more excited!
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