Red-hot Viktor Axelsen will be the man to beat in Malaysia

There’s just no stopping Viktor Axelsen at the moment, as the Danish ace is set to arrive in Kuala Lumpur this week as a red-hot favourite to win both the Malaysia Open and Malaysia Masters taking place in the next three weeks.

Axelsen was untouchable in Indonesia, winning both the Indonesia Open and Masters in fairly comfortable fashion.

The world number one did not need to break into second gear at the Indonesia Open final, needing only 38 minutes to beat Zhao Jun Peng 21-9, 21-10.

That means the Olympic champion now has four titles to his name this year, with the All-England and European Championships adding to his back-to-back titles on Indonesian soil.

In fact, barring the two walkovers he conceded at the Swiss and Thailand Open, Axelsen has only lost once this year at the German Open semi-finals against Lakshya Sen.

“Obviously you want to win all tournaments. I’m really proud of how I came through in every single match and perform over the last two weeks, it’s not easy to play at this level on consecutive weeks, so I’m happy about that,” he said after winning the Indonesia Open.

Lee Zii Jia, who gave the Dane arguably his toughest battle this year in the semis, admitted Axelsen to be a tough man to take down at this point.

“Almost no one can beat him now. Mentally he is very strong, his focus is 100 percent which is why no opponent has been able to beat him,” said Lee after his match against the champion.

At the upcoming Malaysia Open (June 28-July 3), Axelsen will face Kanta Tsuneyama in the first round, an opponent he gave only 12 points in two games (21-8, 21-4) at the Indonesia Open first round.

Lee is at the bottom half of the draw, so if both shuttlers live up to expectations, could clash at the final at the Axiata Arena come July 3.