DENPASAR, INDONESIA (AFP) – Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen powered into the world No. 1 spot on Wednesday (Dec 1) after a walkover victory over fellow Dane Rasmus Gemke in the group stage of badminton’s World Tour Finals in Indonesia.
The 27-year-old took men’s singles gold at this year’s Tokyo Games and moves above Japan’s Kento Momota, as Gemke withdrew from their match injured.
Momota had been the world’s leading men’s player since September 2018 and also pulled out of his fixture, just one minute after it started.
“I am so sorry to my fans to end up like this,” said Momota, who had a back injury in training earlier in the day.
The 27-year-old, who won a record 11 titles in 2019, and Gemke dropped out of the competition, as their remaining matches were considered walkovers under the tournament regulations.
Axelsen is now favourite for the title and will meet unseeded Indian player Lakshya Sen in his next group match on Thursday.
The World Tour Finals are the season-ending of three consecutive tournaments played in strict bio-secure conditions on the Indonesian resort island and without spectators.
In the draw for the Dec 12-19 World Championships held yesterday, second seed Axelsen was picked to meet Loh Kean Yew in the opening round in Huelva in Spain.
It is the third time in three months that he will face the 20th-ranked Singaporean. He won both previous encounters, with the most recent being Sunday’s Indonesia Open final.
Top seed Momota got a much easier start, meeting Poland’s Michal Rogalski.
Earlier, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi completed her Tour Finals women’s singles group match in 34 minutes, defeating Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in straight games 21-11, 21-14.
Thailand’s top mixed doubles pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai beat home favourites Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti 21-14, 10-21, 21-11.
“Today’s matches were tight. We were under pressure and almost found it difficult to find the game rhythm,” said Sapsiree.
Yeo received a bye for her World Championships opener and will meet Scotland’s world No. 21 Kirsty Gilmour or Japan’s world No. 22 Aya Ohori in the round of 32.
Top seeds Tai Tzu-ying from Chinese Taipei and second seed Yamaguchi both also received first-round byes.
Tai is tipped to meet fourth seed and local favourite Carolina Marin, who enjoys an opening-round bye too, in the semi-finals. The Spaniard is gunning for a fourth world title.
Join ST’s Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Source: Read Full Article