Axelsen and Yamaguchi win BWF World Tour Finals

Tags: Sports Sports News

Men's badminton world number one Viktor Axelsen won the men's singles title after defeating Indonesian ace Anthony Ginting at the season-ending World Tour Finals in Bangkok on 11 December.

The BWF moved its $1.5 million flagship event to the Thai capital's Nimibutra Arena after the tournament's original host China pulled out of the tournament due to Covid restrictions.

Men's Singles Final

• Defending champion Axelsen appeared fresh, relaxed, energetic and in control as he cruised to a 21-13 win in the first game.

• His confidence had been shakey following a surprise loss to India's H S Prannoy on 9 December -- only his third defeat this year -- but he appeared to be a different player on 11 December.

Women's Singles Final

• Defending world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan won the women's singles title by defeating Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.

• In the women's singles final, Yamaguchi won in straight games 21–18, 22–20 in a close match.

• With that, Yamaguchi became the first women’s singles player since Ye Zhaoying in 1997 to claim the All England Open, World Championships and end-of-season finals all in the same year, as per the Badminton World Federation.

About BWF World Tour

• The BWF World Tour is a Grade 2 badminton tournament series, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). 

• It is a competition open to the top world ranked players in singles (men's and women's) and doubles (men's, women's and mixed). 

• The competition was announced on 19 March 2017 and came into effect starting from 2018.