European Games 2023: Brotherly revenge nearly halts Axelsen on path to badminton gold while Marin claims seventh European title
The Danish badminton star took narrow victories in back-to-back matches with France's Popov brothers to maintain his status as reigning Olympic, world and European champion, as Marin continued her dominant run to gold on the final day of competition in Krakow.
Badminton
Viktor Axelsen seemed unstoppable going into the men's singles badminton final at the 2023 European Games.
Determined not to go out in the group stage as he did in Minsk four years ago, the Tokyo 2020 champion and current world No.1 dominated the group stage and early elimination matches with double digit leads.
His first real challenge did not come until the semi-finals where he got a narrow victory over France's Toma Junior Popov. The Danish star eventually won that match (21-17, 21-18), but his woes with the Popov family were still not over as Axelsen was to face Toma Junior's younger brother, Christo, in the final.
The 21-year-old Frenchman stunned the veteran player by taking the first game 21-16, putting Axelsen in yet unfamiliar territory of having to fight to stay in the tournament.
Popov continued to apply pressure in the second game, but Axelsen managed to rebound with a 21-16 win of his own until taking the 82-minute match in the third game, 21-11.
With this victory in Krakow, Axelsen maintains his current status as the reigning Olympic, world and European champion.
Meanwhile, for Christo Popov the silver at the 2023 European Games is his career's first individual medal at a major tournament.
Seventh European title for Marin
Earlier, in the women's singles final, Carolina Marin cruised to her seventh consecutive European title as she won gold in straight sets at the 2023 European Games against Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt.
Aside from a snag in the group play stage where Marin went into a tie break against Switzerland’s eventual bronze medallist Jenjira Stadelmann, two games were enough for the Spaniard to win all of her matches in Krakow.
She repeated that pattern in the final, leaving Blichfeldt with silver (21-15, 21-14).
“I was ready for today. I wanted to show that I really want to win but it’s not about winning. It’s about showing my determination, showing that I really want to improve my game," Marin said after her victory. "I’m so happy that I could win this gold medal but I am also happy that I showed to myself that I want to go further. I am eager to keep going, to keep working hard.”
The European Games competition counted towards the BWF World Ranking, which will later be used to determine qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.