Japan Open: Viktor Axelsen dominant to claim fourth title in 2023

World number one Viktor Axelsen continued to stamp his dominance in the BWF World Tour men’s singles circuit after he claimed the Japan Open title.

The Danish ace needed 45 minutes to beat Jonatan Christie 21-7, 21-18 in a final which he dictated from start to finish to notch a hat-trick of consecutive titles since returning to action following a short injury lay-off.

Christie did not know what hit him as Axelsen raced to a 13-0 lead in the first game that paved the way for an easy lead.

To his credit, Christie did mount a good fight in the second game to lock horns with Axelsen at 18-18, but the reigning Olympic champion left no stone unturned to finish the game off.

This was Axelsen’s second Japan Open triumph since 2017 when he beat Lee Chong Wei to notch his maiden title in Tokyo.

In the women’s singles, soon-to-be world number one An Se-young was equally impressive as she brushed aside China’s He Bing Jiao 21-15, 21-11.

China surprisingly returned empty handed from the final as top seeds Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan also lost in straight games 21-17, 21-14 against South Koreans Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong in the women’s doubles.

Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin claimed the men’s doubles with a 21-19, 21-13 success over Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi, while Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino won the mixed doubles after edging out Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai 17-21, 21-16, 21-15.