Viktor Axelsen has finished at the EC.
The Danish badminton star suffered a sensational defeat to French Toma Junior Popov when he was sent out in the EC semi-finals.
Instead, it is the Frenchman who booked a place for the fight for the EC gold, where he will meet another Dane in Anders Antonsen.
Axelsen managed to win a set, but lost 19-21, 21-17, 9-21.
It was the first time in his career that Popov defeated the Danish world number one.
The Frenchman generally seemed much more on top – both mentally and playing-wise. And when it got tough physically, he had to have dried up sweat on the pitch, so he also got an extra little break.
– I had a lot of problems, and we don’t have time to talk about all my problems right now. But Toma played better than me and congratulations to him for the final place.
– I hope I play a little better at the Olympics. There are still a few months, so I have to try to pull myself together and get a better result, says a clearly very frustrated Axelsen right after the shock defeat.
The 26-year-old Antonsen beat the Finnish surprise Joakim Oldorff 21-11, 21-11. He ranks a modest 68th in the world rankings.
Antonsen, who is number four in the world, could feel from the first ball that a large part of the hall in Saarbrücken, Germany, cheered on the under-tipped Finn.
21-year-old Oldorff, who has represented Gentofte Badminton Club, seemed uplifted by the support, but that feeling quickly disappeared as Antonsen turned up the pace and focus in a one-sided affair.
Including the European Games, which replace the EC in badminton in the years when the event is held, at least either Axelsen or Antonsen has been part of the European final since 2016.
And six out of seven titles have gone to the Danish stars. Axelsen won in 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2023, while Antonsen reached the top in 2019 and 2021.
Twice there have been purely Danish finals.
In 2021, Antonsen grabbed the title when Axelsen tested positive for the coronavirus and had to withdraw from the gold duel. In 2022, Axelsen won over Antonsen in two sets after a messy match without much quality.
2024-04-14 19:03:55
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