Ahmedabad: World no. 5 Son Wan Ho beat former world champion Viktor Axelsen as Awadhe Warriors thumped Ahmedabad Smash Masters at the Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 4 here on Friday.
World no. 10 Beiwen Zhang too won her Trump match to pave the way for Awadhe’s third win in four ties this season. This was the Smash Masters’ second defeat on the trot after having topped the leaderboard in the initial stages of Season 4. Birthday boy Axelsen had an uphill task against the in-form Son Wan Ho of the Warriors, considering the fact that he has still not recovered fully from the ankle injury that hampered his season last year.
He looked subdued as the Korean dictated the terms, involving the Dane in long rallies. From 10-3, the steady Son Wan Ho piled on the pressure on his rival, who conceded the opener 7-15. Axelsen looked much more settled in the second game and built a 6-1 lead.
Son did come back to within three points of the Dane but his unforced errors allowed Axelsen to grab the game 15-8. In the decider, a resilient Axelsen erased a 3-7 deficit to even the score at 7-7. The persistent effort was still not enough as his unpreparedness at the net was exposed repeatedly by the Korean, who finished the 15-7, 8-15, 15-10 win to bring about Axelsen’s third defeat of the season.
Earlier in the day, Awadhe’s Beiwen Zhang wanted to make a statement, having beaten the BWF World Tour Finals champion PV Sindhu this season.
And the World no. 10 did exactly that in her trump clash with Ahmedabad’s Kirsty Gilmour, even though it wasn’t easy for her. (PTI)
