Nanjing (China): Holder Viktor Axelsen said that he made “way too many mistakes” as the giant Dane was dumped out of the badminton World Championships quarter-finals on Friday by China’s Chen Long.
The top-ranked players in both the men’s and women’s draws are now out, after Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying was beaten earlier in the day in Nanjing by another Chinese.
Olympic champion Chen will play Shi Yuqi – at three the top remaining seed – in an all-Chinese semi-final following his emphatic 21-19, 21-11 victory over Axelsen.
There was a moment of controversy and the first game was held up for two minutes as the 29-year-old Chen disputed a call that fell in favour of the Dane.
But the 24-year-old world number one Axelsen, who has single-handedly broken Asia’s stranglehold on men’s badminton in the last year, was always playing catch-up.
“He was a lot better than me today, unfortunately,” said Axelsen, who tossed his racquet spinning into the air after losing the first game, drawing a withering look from the chair umpire.
“But life goes on and I have to learn from this.”
The other men’s semi-final will be between Liew Daren, the unseeded Malaysian, and in-form Kento Momota of Japan, now favourite for the title after Axelsen’s demise. (AFP)
