Dubai: It was eventually a double triumph for youth as younger opponents walked away with top honours at the season-ending BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals that concluded at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Sunday.
World champion Viktor Axelsen brought the curtains down while taking his second successive title while outplaying Malaysian great Lee Chong Wei in an epic 84-minute final for the men’s singles title as Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi had taken the women’s singles crown in an engrossing final to deny India’s golden girl PV Sindhu a big one yet again.
Growing up, Axelsen had watched his opponent from Malaysia play. Little did he dream that one day he would win against his idol on the biggest stage while pocketing his second title in three attempts in this year-ender that will now move on to China after being held in Dubai for the past four years.
Now 35, Chong Wei is the elder statesman of the sport but the 23-year-old Dane didn’t allow any of that to affect his game or his planning as he played the game of patience to perfection while wearing him down and denying the Malaysian a record fifth title in this competition. “Every athlete loves to win. It is such an amazing feeling to end the year on such a note. I feel pretty awesome especially because the great win has come against an opponent like Chong Wei,” Axelsen later told media.
“Beating a player I have watched since I was a kid is even more satisfying. It’s been a tough year, but I will always remember matches and moments like these till I live,” he added.
“Viktor played better. He is younger. He was fast and was attacking all the way. He was quite confident,” the 35-year-old added.
Having completed his second triumph in three attempts in Dubai, the world champion from Denmark could only marvel at his amazing run that started off with the same trophy exactly 12 months back. “It is an amazing feeling. I feel pretty awesome, to be honest, especially after such an amazing game. It’s what you dream of when you start off playing badminton as a kid. After losing the first game I tried to put on the positive glasses, so to say. I knew I had to work hard and I did that. I’m proud that I kept my cool and could go all the way,” he said.
The women’s singles saw Sindhu finishing second best for the second time this year and a third time in her career. While her last two silver medals — Superseries Final on Sunday and the World Championships in Glasgow — came against Japanese opponents [Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara], the Indian fell short of an Olympic gold when she lost to Spain’s Carolina Marin in Rio last year.
“Yes it is time to introspect and learn from mistakes,” Sindhu admitted after her gruelling 94-minute final against the 20-year-old Yamaguchi.
“Of course, it’s really hard. The same thing happened in the World Championships [Glasgow]. It was a good week overall. Such things happen. I have to let it go and shift my focus on 2018,” the 22-year-old from Hyderabad shrugged.
The Japanese admitted the title is the high-point of her young career. “Yes, this is the biggest moment. I’m happy I recovered from my defeat to her in the group match. That it was such a challenging match and to win through that is an incredible achievement. There were long rallies, but I was leading at the end and that gave me confidence,” she admitted.
“I knew she was getting slower at the end, but I knew she had enough energy to move quickly. Everything worked for me and I could win this title today,” she added.
