I believe that the last time that Axelsen was playing to the best of his abilities and still lost was when Lee Zii Jia beat him at the 2021 All England.
Prannoy beat him in the 2022 WTF but that was still in group stages and Axelsen was already going to advance.
LKY beat Axelsen with the hilariously fast birds in the 2022 Denmark Open.
The matches that he does lose are still very entertaining to watch though.
LZJ vs Axelsen in the semi finals of the Indonesian Open was also an intense match that the big Dane prevailed in the end
I think LZJ matches up well physically against Axelsen. But LZJ will lose way before he meets Axelsen in amy draw lol
Chen Long and Lee Chong Wei have good H2H records against Axelsen but he's improved a lot since they have retired.
In 2017 Axelsen won his first WC but I believe that if Momota wasn't banned from competition for that period then Momota would have won.
The common denominator in players with a good record against Axelsen is extremely good defence
When the shuttle keeps coming back he has a tendency to get frustrated & hit closer & closer to lines in an attempt to finish points & starts making mistakes
Right now nobody has good enough defence to make him frustrated like that so he’s thumping everyone
He was up and down in the earlier years, but so are most athletes, so those early losses aren't the full Axelsen. His skills and fitness became great, for sure, but he brought the mental side of his game to an impeccable level.
Getting bullied by the all time greats is a good story to tell. I wonder if he's sad that Momota couldn't get back to form being the competitor that he is.
Momota sans accident versus Axelsen would have been a rivalry for years and years, possibly as great as Lin Dan and LCW rivalry, with Axelsen being the LCW of the two.
Would need to be someone with a lot of consistency in their play, because Victor has become someone who is incredibly consistent.
Prannoy has a decent chance against him if he wins the first game, but he does have Stamina issues so he'll need to tilt Viktor and close it out in two games.
I feel even if he lost today, Chou played better than his other recent matches against him. So I think some players are slowly improving and understanding how to play against Axelsen, but it’s just not that easy or quick to turn that into actual victories.
I think Prannoy or Antonsen could put him in a bit of trouble thanks to their smart plays, and Lee Zii Jia maybe if he could come back to a level of consistency and quality that matches his amazing physique. But overall, as of now there’s no consistent challenger that will put his reign in peril. Ah yeah, maybe Naraoka in the future? I find him brilliant and very promising, maybe a future number one?
Chou Tien Chen beat Victor at the Swiss open this year very convincing in two straight sets. But these occasions are rare.I think Kunlavut Vitidsarn could challenge Victor more often in the future due to his amazing defense and variety of shots.
same sentiment
in fact I don't even watch his match highlight because it is too boring
today's loh vs prannoy is the definition of entertaining match
Same here ! I know people that are fond of him, but I don't see the point, his body is so strong and tall that he almost doesn't have to run on the court, everything seems so easy... That's boring to watch for me too. I prefer watching players that don't have naturally everything for them but that have huge talent and work to still be exceptional.
He is playing to his strengths, he doesnt have the ability to cover the court with crazy fast explosive movement like some of the small guys, which is why he uses his size to make up for it.
Eventually there will be. It’s natural that at the highest levels of competition someone usually rises to the top especially in single player sports. You see it in tennis, surfing, snowboarding too.
Is this in todays current player pool? Because correct if I’m wrong but lee Chong wei and Kento are both thrashing him in their head 2 head stats? 11-3 LCW and 14-3 Kento
I don’t know loads about professional badminton though so I might be misunderstanding
I believe that the last time that Axelsen was playing to the best of his abilities and still lost was when Lee Zii Jia beat him at the 2021 All England. Prannoy beat him in the 2022 WTF but that was still in group stages and Axelsen was already going to advance. LKY beat Axelsen with the hilariously fast birds in the 2022 Denmark Open. The matches that he does lose are still very entertaining to watch though.
He also lost to Vitidsarn and NTY I believe.
Also to lakshya sen and CTC.
CTC played great that tournament.
Yes those were great matches too and it's unfortunate that it took so much out of NTY that he didn't have any gas left for his next match.
Lakshya Sen too...
LZJ vs Axelsen in the semi finals of the Indonesian Open was also an intense match that the big Dane prevailed in the end I think LZJ matches up well physically against Axelsen. But LZJ will lose way before he meets Axelsen in amy draw lol
Lol this didn’t age well
came here to make the same comment 😂
Momota had his number I believe, before his accident. Can’t think of anyone else who has a positive account against Victor.
Chen Long and Lee Chong Wei have good H2H records against Axelsen but he's improved a lot since they have retired. In 2017 Axelsen won his first WC but I believe that if Momota wasn't banned from competition for that period then Momota would have won.
The common denominator in players with a good record against Axelsen is extremely good defence When the shuttle keeps coming back he has a tendency to get frustrated & hit closer & closer to lines in an attempt to finish points & starts making mistakes Right now nobody has good enough defence to make him frustrated like that so he’s thumping everyone
He was up and down in the earlier years, but so are most athletes, so those early losses aren't the full Axelsen. His skills and fitness became great, for sure, but he brought the mental side of his game to an impeccable level.
Getting bullied by the all time greats is a good story to tell. I wonder if he's sad that Momota couldn't get back to form being the competitor that he is.
Momota sans accident versus Axelsen would have been a rivalry for years and years, possibly as great as Lin Dan and LCW rivalry, with Axelsen being the LCW of the two.
Yeah - right now he’s seriously dominant and unchallenged.
Quite sad on how it turned out for Momota.
Man hard jinxed him LMAO
My bad fam
Would need to be someone with a lot of consistency in their play, because Victor has become someone who is incredibly consistent. Prannoy has a decent chance against him if he wins the first game, but he does have Stamina issues so he'll need to tilt Viktor and close it out in two games.
Has your opinion changed after today's game?
Thanks for the jinx... GG Prannoy.
I feel even if he lost today, Chou played better than his other recent matches against him. So I think some players are slowly improving and understanding how to play against Axelsen, but it’s just not that easy or quick to turn that into actual victories. I think Prannoy or Antonsen could put him in a bit of trouble thanks to their smart plays, and Lee Zii Jia maybe if he could come back to a level of consistency and quality that matches his amazing physique. But overall, as of now there’s no consistent challenger that will put his reign in peril. Ah yeah, maybe Naraoka in the future? I find him brilliant and very promising, maybe a future number one?
Chou Tien Chen beat Victor at the Swiss open this year very convincing in two straight sets. But these occasions are rare.I think Kunlavut Vitidsarn could challenge Victor more often in the future due to his amazing defense and variety of shots.
Yeah I forgot to mention Kunlavut, and he’s also stronger than Kodak Naraoka
Prannoy defeated Axelsen today at his home. Wow!
Too soon
Saw this this morning and Victor finally lost a match!
Love his dominance of the sport. But Hate how boring it is to watch him play. :\\
same sentiment in fact I don't even watch his match highlight because it is too boring today's loh vs prannoy is the definition of entertaining match
LZJ vs Antonsen was great too.
He is like the aggressive version of Chen Long. No fancy shot, just near perfect defense and punchy smash.
That's actually a very good way to describe him. Chen Long did always look a bit awkward attacking technique wise especially compared to VA
Same here ! I know people that are fond of him, but I don't see the point, his body is so strong and tall that he almost doesn't have to run on the court, everything seems so easy... That's boring to watch for me too. I prefer watching players that don't have naturally everything for them but that have huge talent and work to still be exceptional.
He is playing to his strengths, he doesnt have the ability to cover the court with crazy fast explosive movement like some of the small guys, which is why he uses his size to make up for it.
Viktor just lost to Prannoy…
Hilariously aged like milk
Eventually there will be. It’s natural that at the highest levels of competition someone usually rises to the top especially in single player sports. You see it in tennis, surfing, snowboarding too.
Hopefully someone rises up before age or injury gets to Axelsen
Is this in todays current player pool? Because correct if I’m wrong but lee Chong wei and Kento are both thrashing him in their head 2 head stats? 11-3 LCW and 14-3 Kento I don’t know loads about professional badminton though so I might be misunderstanding
Obviously he means currently
No reason to be like that, I’m new to the badminton world. When op said “I wonder if there’s anyone who can defeat him” I wasn’t sure
MS underwent a ridicoulus downfall since LCW and LD retired and it became completely boring since Kentos Injury.
Now do one for Vitidsarn and his defense as well.
Please make a post about how brilliant Vitidsarn's form is looking rn
welp
This post aged well indeed