Hong Kong Open: Axe Sharpening

Viktor Axelsen waited five months to win his first event of the season; the world No.2 has now aced his last two, including the big one – his second Olympic gold in early August.

His latest success, at LI-NING Hong Kong Open 2024 on Sunday, also saw him add one of the very few missing SuperSeries events to his massive haul of crowns.

“I’m very happy to win this tournament as you could see from my celebrations,” said the 30-year-old after beating surprise finalist Lei Lan Xi 21-9 21-12 in 44 minutes. “I haven’t really been able to go far here, my best result until now was the quarterfinals. It’s one of those tournaments I haven’t won so to finally do it feels amazing.

“I kept a consistent level throughout the match, only a few mistakes at the start of the second game. All in all, I played an excellent final.”

The Malaysia Masters in May, also Axelsen’s maiden final of 2024, ended his drought that began after his HSBC BWF World Tour Finals triumph in December. Prior to that, the big Dane’s results were – second round at French Open, quarterfinals at All England and semifinals at Malaysia Open and the European Championships.

Rather unsurprisingly, he peaked at Paris 2024, cruising to gold without dropping a game. A month of no competition followed, and he’s done the same at his first tournament back.

“I haven’t been able to practice as much as I wanted to post Paris, but I’m happy with the way I’ve come back. Doing this after the Olympics is not easy, I’m quite surprised I could perform at such a high level,” Axelsen said.

On the winning trail again after an uncharacteristic opening four months of the season, Axelsen looks primed to defend his title at VICTOR China Open 2024 this week. It also presents him the chance to bag his first Super 1000 title of the year, and extend a winning streak ala Axelsen.

A little delayed, but the Axe is sharpening for a grand finish.

Results (Finals)


WHAT OTHERS SAID

“Although I couldn’t win, I’m grateful to have played my first Super 500 final. I feel like I’m getting closer to a title at this level but I need to keep training to better myself.” – Women’s singles runner-up Putri Kusuma Wardani

“Every tournament won is a confirmation of our abilities, but it also signals work for the next one starts soon. We now go into the China Open more confident.” – Mixed doubles winner Wei Ya Xin

“I’m relieved we are champions after losing back-to-back finals (Korea and Japan Opens). We will not stop, we want to carry this momentum on to the upcoming tournaments.” – Men’s doubles winner Seo Seung Jae

Wei the first player in 14 years to win the same doubles event consecutively with different partners.

BWF World Tour News

Title Sponsor HSBC