Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen won gold in the men’s singles badminton event defeating China’s Chen Long in Tokyo Olympics on Monday. He became the first non-Asian man to claim the singles title since 1996.
The world number two beat China’s defending champion in straight sets 21-15, 21-12. Axelsen looked in complete control throughout the match. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, he won the bronze medal by beating Lin Dan from China 21–15, 12–21, 21–17.
“I still have to take this all in. This is the biggest achievement you can have as a badminton player and this means the world to me. When you win an Olympic final in straight games like this against Chen Long, I think you can say that you’ve been at least really, really close to your best,” added Axelsen.
“The titles are great and all, but the biggest driver for me to continue is to keep getting better and compete with strong guys like these. It gives me a lot of motivation to compete and see if I can get better. It’s more the journey rather than the end station.” said The 27-year-old
Axelsen and Chen are the two of the world’s most brutal smashers. In the finals, Axelsen was on the top since the start of the game. He didn’t give many opportunities to World number six and never loosened his grip in the game. Axelsen didn’t lose a single game in Tokyo.
“He (Frederik, crown prince of Denmark) told me that I deserved it, and my performance here has been great. And I said ‘Thank you so much and that he has been a big inspiration to me,” said Axelsen, who had received a call from Frederik
Viktor Axelsen was crowned European men’s singles champion in 2016 and 2018. In their previous encounter at Rio 2016, Chen defeated Axelsen 21-14, 21-15 in the semifinal. He went onto win his first Olympic gold beating Malaysia’s legendary shuttler Lee Chong Wei.