All England Open badminton 2023: Denmark's Viktor Axelsen shuts down Lee Cheuk Yiu in opening round
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist lost the opening game of the match but rebounded in strong fashion to advance to the second round in Birmingham.
Badminton
Viktor Axelsen of Denmark won his opening match of badminton's 2023 All England Open on Tuesday (14 March) as the men's top seed bested Hong Kong China's Lee Cheuk Yiu. The event is being held at Utilita Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England.
The Danish player is the reigning World and Olympic champion, having taken gold at Tokyo 2020. He also owns an Olympic bronze medal from Rio 2016.
Lee took a tight opening game at 21-19 with Axelsen forcing a decisive third game by winning Game 2 at 21-15.
The pair kept the final game tight at the first, but Axelsen began to pull away at 11-7 and never looked back. The final game ended with Axelsen victorious at 21-11.
He'll face Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong in the second round.