Badminton photo July 2, 2023 17:23 Written by Jonas Kildegaard Rasmussen
With a dramatic victory of 16-21, 21-16, 11-21 over Christo Popov, Viktor Axelsen won the European Games today. – Of course I am happy and proud, said Viktor Axelsen after the final.
A European Games. A gold medal. These are the statistics for Viktor Axelsen, who participated in the European Games for the first time in his career, when he was on the field in Arena Jaskolka in Tarnow, Poland this week.
– I am of course happy and proud. It’s a title I haven’t won before. It was a tough match today, both physically and mentally. I was completely out of sorts, especially in the second set. But I am happy and proud that I managed to win it, said Viktor Axelsen after the final.
Click here to secure a ticket for the WC 2023 in the Royal Arena on 21-27 August
Viktor Axelsen and Christo Popov have played some exciting and intense matches in recent years, and today’s final was one for the gathering.
– I found it difficult to really put the duels together, and I didn’t feel quite up to speed, either physically or mentally for large parts of the match, and then I really just tried to keep it on the field, and then I tried to play with what I once had, and I managed to drive him a little tired, and then there were a lot of mistakes from him, and I grew a little with the task, and I’m really happy and proud of that, said Axelsen.
Read also: Mia Blichfeldt takes silver at the European Games
Popov played smart, offensive and cheeky, and this caused Axelsen big problems, as the Dane could not quite get his otherwise exuberant offense to work.
So it was a victory that had to be fought for home – and it was.
Trailing 2-8 in the second set, the gold medal was about to be around the neck of the 21-year-old Frenchman, but then Axelsen gained better control of the match and Popov’s cut. This meant that the Dane took the second set with 21-16.
In the third set, Popov was clearly marked by the week’s many matches in men’s singles and men’s doubles (where he won bronze with his brother Toma Popov, whom Viktor Axelsen beat in yesterday’s semi-final).
Read also: How Saturday’s semi-finals and the men’s doubles final at the European Games went
The Danish world champion therefore kept the ball moving and moved Popov around the pitch. The fatigue caused Popov to make many mistakes, and then Axelsen could go to the break 11-3.
But after the break, the Frenchman regained his faith in things and took four points in a row before having to undergo treatment for the third time in the match.
In the end, it was too hard for Popov, and Axelsen could hit the ball on the floor and lie on his back in joy and exhaustion after 80 minutes.
Click here to read more details from today’s finals at the European Games
Previous matches between the two finalists can be mentioned at Thomas Cup 2020 (played in 2021) in Aarhus, where they were out in three sets before Axelsen won 21-8 in the third set. It was also exciting in the EC team final in February, where the Dane’s frustrations cost him a racket. Again, a third set was needed before the world champion could walk off the court as the winner.
Thus, the two duelists had met four times before today’s match, and Viktor Axelsen had won all of them.
With the victory, Viktor Axelsen has won the European Games, Indonesia Open and Malaysia Open in 2023, while it became second place at the India Open.
Tags: European Games 2023, Viktor Axelsen
Category: Elite, Front page, Medal, News
2023-07-02 15:50:05
#Viktor #Axelsen #wins #European #Games #Badminton #Denmark #career
