BWF World Tour finals: Viktor Axelsen beats Anthony Ginting to send Indonesian out on tiebreak in Hangzhou
A three-way tie in Group A sees Olympic champion Axelsen and Shi Yuqi qualify for the semi-finals, with Ginting missing out on tiebreak rules.
Badminton
There was a dramatic end to the BWF World Tour Finals 2023 group stages for Viktor Axelsen and Anthony Ginting on Friday (15 December) as badminton world number one Axelsen sent his Indonesian opponent tumbling out of the competition.
Ginting had won his opening two matches against Shi Yuqi and top-seeded Naraoka Kodai, putting him in driving position after Thursday. But Axelsen earned a hard-fought three-game 16–21, 21–7, 21–13 victory in their last group tie on Friday to put both men on two wins and one defeat.
That meant a match happening simultaneously on the other court, between Naraoka and Shi, would determine the semi-final qualifiers from Group A in men's singles. Shi had beaten Axelsen and lost to Ginting, but a win against Naraoka would guarantee his spot in the last four.
Things seemed to be going Ginting's way as Naraoka took the first game against Shi and also held what seemed like a comfortable four-point lead on two different occasions in the second, only for Shi to stage a comeback before sealing a comfortable deciding set 18–21, 23–21, 21–13.
With Shi, Axelsen, and Ginting all on two wins and one loss, Shi topped the group by virtue of his games difference, winning five games and losing three across his three matches. Both Axelsen and Ginting won one more game than they lost, which meant Axelsen's better point difference – +29 to Ginting's -6 – sent the Indonesian home.
Ginting's teammate Jonatan Christie, however, sealed his last four spot in Group B despite losing to Li Shifeng in straight games. Christie ended up in another three-way tie with Anders Antonsen and Li, with all three men sitting on two wins and one loss and a games difference of 4–2. Antonsen won the group with a +19 points difference, compared to Christie's +13. Li missed out on +4.
Meanwhile, favourites An Se-young and Tai Tzu-ying earned semi-final spots in women's singles Group A. An, who began her campaign with a shock defeat to compatriot Kim Ga-eun, beat Tai 21–17, 21–15 – which could have eliminated the Chinese Taipei shuttler.
But Kim lost the deciding match to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia, ensuring An and Tai would both be in the last four. Carolina Marín won Group B from Chen Yufei by virtue of a close-run 25–23, 24–22 contest.
Discover all the results from the BWF World Tour Finals 2023 here. The competition is available live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics mobile app (territorial restrictions apply).