Anders Antonsen kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Season Finals when he cruised past the Indonesian Jonathan Christie 21-16, 21-15 on Thursday afternoon
28-year-old Antonsen lost his first match against the Frenchman Christo Popov, and his further participation now depends on the third and final group match against Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The winner of that match advances to the semi-finals.
With the defeat on Thursday, Christie has outplayed his role in the tournament.
Antonsen got off to an excellent start and had the upper hand for the majority of a close first set. The Indonesian hung on for a long time, but when the Dane took a 16-13 lead, the set was more or less decided.
With a nice backhand on set point, Antonsen secured the first set 21-16.
Antonsen’s confidence was high when he went into the second set. Christie hung on until 2-2, but then the Dane took over and took a 10-4 lead. He increased the lead further and was ahead 15-8 before Christie attempted a late comeback.
Antonsen handled the pressure excellently and secured an 18-14 lead with a nice block at the net, and from there he cruised to a 21-14 win in the second set.
In Thursday’s second group match, Christo Popov followed up on Wednesday’s victory over Anders Antonsen by defeating Kunlavut Vitidsarn to secure a place in the semi-finals.
Antonsen, who is ranked third in the world, plays his final and decisive group match on Friday against Vitidsarn, who is No. 2 in the world rankings.
