Viktor Axelsen pushes the distance to clinch Indonesia Open 2021
The reigning Olympic champion won two of the three Super 1000 events this season as Bali sees three repeat winners in two weeks.
Badminton
Viktor Axelsen has secured badminton's final Super 1000 title of the season by winning the Indonesia Open 2021 in Bali.
The Dane - who clinched gold at Tokyo 2020 - was pushed hard by Singapore's Loh Kean Yew, who extended the match to three games, but in the end Axelsen sealed a 21-12, 9-21, 21-13 victory in 59 minutes.
Axelsen got off to a better start, cruising to a relatively easy win in the first game. However 24-year-old Loh fired back in the second period and opened up an 11-3 lead at the mid-game interval. The Hylo Open 2021 winner played well for the rest of the game and the Dane could not find a way back in as the match went to the decider.
The third game proved to be a closely-contested affair, but the reigning Olympic champion took an 11-6 lead at the mid-game interval.
Loh, who needed a win to secure a spot in next week's World Tour Finals, tried hard to close the gap but Axelsen held on and wrapped up the match to clinch his second Super 1000 title of the season, having won the Denmark Open in October.
Axelsen: I'm more proud that I usually am
It was a special victory for Axelsen who has moved to Dubai after the Olympic Games and set up his own training centre. He is currently operating as an independent, without the support of his national federation, and was clearly delighted with today's accomplishment.
"I'm really happy and I'm more proud that I usually am," the Olympic champion told BWF after the match.
"This week was special because, first of all I don't have a coach with me, I don't have a physio with me. We've been on our own out here." - Viktor Axelsen
"The other thing is physically I haven't been feeling that well at the start of the week, and I've slowly recovered during the week," Axelsen added.
"To be able to perform while you are also trying to get mentally stable after not having all the resources you usually have, that's a big win for me and it takes a lot of mental energy and so I'm really proud and happy right now."
Korea's An upset Intanon to clinch maiden Super 1000 title
South Korea's An Seyoung picked up her second World Tour title in as many weeks when she beat Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in the women's singles final, 21-17, 22-20.
The 19-year-old, who is ranked sixth in the world, added to her Indonesia Masters 2021 title which she won last week by defeating Japan's Yamaguchi Akane.
An held an advantage in the opening game, which she managed to convert into a win to take the advantage. The second period saw the pair trading points all the way up to 12-12. But from then on, the teenager was able to surge ahead to a 20-13 lead with seven title point opportunities. However, Intanon somehow managed to save them all and level the tie 20-20, and for a brief moment it looked like we might be treated to a decider.
But An snatched the two points needed to win the match, and clinched her maiden Super 1000 title in Bali.
Reigning Olympic champions lose women's doubles final
The home favourites for the women's doubles title Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu fell just shy of clinching the title on home soil when they went down to Matsuyama Nami and Shida Chiharu.
The Japanese duo became the second to win back-to-back titles in Bali when they beat the reigning Olympic champions, 21-19, 21-19 in a closely fought match. Matsuyama and Shida also clinched the Indonesia Masters 2021 title the previous weekend.
Third title of the season for Thailand's pair
Mixed doubles top seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai made it a hat-tick of double-victories in Bali when they easily clinched victory in their final against Japan's Watanabe Yuta and Higashino Arisa.
The Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists were unable to keep pace with the Thai pair, who led from start to finish in both games to take victory (21-12, 21-13).
The win was sweet revenge for the Thais who lost to their opponents in the final of the Denmark Open in October. Puavaranukroh and Taerattanachai pick up their third title of the season, having won the Indonesia Masters last week and the Hylo Open prior to arriving in Bali.
'The Minions' triumph on home soil
World number one pairing of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo clinched victory on home soil after they defeated Japan's Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo in straight games, 21-14, 21-18.
The Indonesians, fondly known as "the Minions" avenged their defeat in last week's Indonesia Masters final when they narrowly lost to the Japanese pair in a three-game thriller.
This time around Gideon and Sukamuljo got straight down to business, and after a close opening exchange in the first game, surged ahead after the mid-game interval to take the advantage.
Hoki and Kobayashi fought back in the second game but the Indonesians held firm and took victory to clinch their third-consecutive Indonesian Open title, having won in 2018 and 2019 with no event being held last year.