Third seed Viktor Axelsen takes on seventh seed Chou Tien Chen in the Men's singles final of 2017 India Open Supersereis in New Delhi on Sunday.
Axelsen needed only 29 minutes to decimate Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long 21-21, 21-13 in his semi-final outing yesterday while Chen will be facing the third Danish shuttler in the tournament today after edging past Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (21-10, 21-14) and Anders Antonsen (21-17-21-14) over his quarter-final and semi-final matches, respectively.
Axelsen has made good use of the withdrawals of top-ranked shuttlers, Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and compatriot Jan O Jorgensen. The highest-ranked player in the Men's singles draw (four) has only lost a game enroute to the final and has been in dominant form in the ongoing tournament.
The Rio Olympic bronze medallist, who won the Dubai World Supersereis Final last year, suffered a huge disappointment early in the season when he lost his All England Championships quarter-final to Lin Dan last month. The Danish shuttler would want to make amends for his early exit from Birmingham and he is well placed to win his maiden title in India.
On the other hand, Chen, who had disappointing second half last year, has sprung back into form with a title in Germany earlier this year and followed it up with a solid run to the semi-final of All England, in which he lost to eventual champion Lee Chong Wei.
Chen though has lost four of his five meeting with Axelsen and has not won their last three clashes. However, given his recent form, the Taiwan shuttler would be hoping to better his record against the Dane.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports
Malaysia: Astro Supersport
Singapore: Hub Sports 3
