Badminton

Axelsen eases through to final, will face Kodai in Malaysia Open decider

KUALA LUMPUR: World No 1 Viktor Axelsen is prepared for another tough match when he plays Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the final of the Petronas Malaysia Open final tomorrow.

Axelsen, looking to start the season with a bang, booked his place in the final after thumping world No 26 Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan 21-7, 21-15 in the semi-finals tonight.

"I felt comfortable pretty quickly, I came in with good speed and legs as well as a good feeling. I maintained it throughout the whole match," said Axelsen, who bagged eight titles last season from 12 tournaments.

"Kanta stepped up in the second game and I moved back a little but I found my rhythm again and I'm really happy and satisfied."

Despite having a rather easy week, the Dane assured that he will not take Kodai lightly.

Just last month, the Japanese world No 7 came close to edging Axelsen in the final of the World Tour Finals in Bangkok, stretching him for more than an hour in a three game thriller.

"I'm expecting a tough match against Kodai. The last time we played was really close.

"I'm preparing for another tough one tomorrow," he added.

In the other men's singles semi-final played earlier tonight, Kodai, who has played a total of 362 minutes of badminton this week, defeated Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-17, 19-21, 21-17.

The match lasted for one hour 53 minutes.

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS

Men's singles: Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) 21-17, 19-21, 21-17, Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Kanta Tsuneyama (Jpn) 21-7, 21-15.

Doubles: Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt S. Rankireddy-C. Shetty (Ind) 21-16, 11-21, 21-15, Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina) bt Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae (Kor) 21-18, 21-17.

Women's singles: An Se Young (Kor) bt Chen Yu Fei (Chn) 21-12, 19-21, 21-9, Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Tai Tzu Ying (Tai) 21-18, 21-16.

Doubles: Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan (Chn) bt Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) 21-9, 2-0 retired, Baek Ha Na-Lee Yu Lim (Kor) bt Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu (Chn) 21-17, 23-21.

Mixed doubles: Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 21-18, 21-15, Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong (Chn) bt Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-16, 21-18.

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