SAN FRANCISCO: With all the retirement of China’s Lin Dan plus Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, curtains fell on badminton’s well-known “Lin-Lee rivalry”, which defined the sport designed for well over a decade since the mid-2000s and had taken it to brand new heights.
It was difficult to imagine there could be another pair of opponents would you capture the imagination of fans with as much fervour : until Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen and Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew came along.
In August, Axelsen won the World Championships , while defending champion Loh crashed out in the quarterfinals . Loh lost 12-21, 21-17, 8-21 to eventual runner-up Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
In the 2021 version, 25-year-old Loh upset Axelsen in 3 games in the first round enroute to recording the historic overhead for Singapore .
THE UTTERLY DOMINANT VIKTOR AXELSON
28-year-old Viktor Axelsen offers always stood mind and shoulders over his peers, since he caught the badminton world’s attention for becoming the first European to become the entire world Junior Champion this year at just 16 years of age.
Since then, he has cemented his top place becoming the world champ and world amount 1 in 2017. He made the roaring comeback right after injuries to handbag the 2020 Olympic title in Tokyo, without dropping a game title. He won the entire world title last week within an identical dominant style.
Japan’s 2018 and 2019 World Champion Kento Momota had been the closest to creating a long-term powerful rivalry with Axelsen. But the 27-year-old remains struggling to restore top form given that early-2021.
In their newest encounter at the Petronas Malaysia Open’s last in July, Axelsen defeated Momota 21-4 21-7 in just 34 minutes. In the World Championships in the home turf, Momota fell to the unseeded Prannoy H S in the round of 32.
ALONG ARRIVED “UNCLE LOH”
Enter 25-year-old Loh Kean Yew. After Loh received the historic World Championships title within 2021 , their connection to Axelsen like a training partner has been immediately picked up upon.