Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn breaks Axelsen’s streak; wins India Open singles title
World Number 1 Viktor Axelsen has suffered an upset. The number one shuttler lost in the finals of the India Open singles against Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Axelsen lost in 64 minutes to the World Championships silver medalist 20-22, 21-10, 12-21.
The defeat in the finals was Axelsen‘s first ending a streak of 13 wins, dating back to the World Tour Finals. Axelsen won the World Tour Finals last year and began the season with a Super 1000 title in Malaysia earlier in January.
At the India Open singles final, Kunlavut matched every stroke with Axelsen, providing great entertainment to the New Delhi crowd, which was treated to high-quality badminton. From 20-20, the 21-year-old converted his first game point. However, the young shutter was blown away in the second game. Kunlavut also became only the 4th shuttler after HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Loh Kean Yew to beat Axelsen in a completed match since the start of the 2022 season.
Earlier in the day, 20-year-old South Korean shuttler An Se Young defeated Akane Yamaguchi 15–21, 21–16, 21–12 in the women’s singles final to add another title to her already envious trophy cabinet.
In the men’s doubles final, 3rd seeds Aaron Cha and Soh Wooh Yik lost to China’s Lian Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-14, 19-21, 18-21.
