DENMARK’s Viktor Axelsen cemented his status as one of the world’s most successful men’s singles players after winning his back-to-back Olympic title, matching the feat of China’s legendary star and Olympic Games twice winner, Lin Dan.
In today’s final, the Dane overcame Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-11, 21-11 to win his second consecutive Olympic gold medal at Arena de la Chapelle.
Vitidsarn, 23, stepped onto the courts as the reigning world champion’s tag on his back but against the in-form Axelsen, the eighth seed Vitidsarn tried hard but the Dane was well in control throughout the 52-minute match.
Vitidsarn, however, can take pride in his achievement in Paris, playing well throughout his campaign and creating history by becoming the first Thai badminton player to reach the Olympic final and win an Olympic medal. His achievement in Paris has also elevated his world rankings from the previous eighth to the current world No.4.
Kunlavut, fondly known as View, is the reigning World Champion, and a three-time World Junior champion, is a product of Ban Thongyod Badminton School, where he began training at the age of 12 and inspired by Ratchanok Intanon’s international success.
From a surprise 21-12, 21-10 victory over China’s top seed Shi Yu Qi in the quarter-finals to beating conquering seventh seed Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia 21-14, 21-15 in the semifinals, Vitidsarn stormed to the historic finals, only to be denied the gold by the reigning champion Axelsen.
“Coming to the Olympics for the first time and winning a medal, even if it’s not gold, is not a bad thing. From now on, I will try to go back and continue developing myself,” said Vitidsarn after the match.
Admitting that Axelsen was playing way better than him, Vitidsarn said he would continue to work hard. “Axelsen is still above the rest now, still the best, I have to admit.
In the second game, I knew I couldn’t fight against his game plan..so I just played according to my thoughts, trying to find other ways to play to create more new game plans,” Vitidsarn was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, seventh seed Lee Zii Jia redeemed his loss at the hands of Vitidsarn in yesterday’s semifinals by overcoming India’s Lakshya Sen to give Malaysia its second silver medal in Paris 2024.
Lee Zii Jia came back strongly from a game down to defeat the unseeded Sen 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in a marathon 72-minute match.
Except for the men’s singles, Asia maintained its domination, sweeping gold, silver and bronze medals in all four disciplines – women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
