Australian Open: Axelsen lost, Carolina wins the title

The $7,50,000 Australian Open Superseries came to an end today and champions were crowned at Olympic park stadium of Sydney on the final day. Intensity of competition can be measured by the fact that 3 out of 5 matches were decided in a 3 set battle. It was a great display of Badminton skills & every point was fought well by the players. Let’s see how matches panned out on the final day.

1. Chen Long v/s Victor Axelsen- World no- 1 and the top seed, Chen long of China was forced to play his best game by the World no- 9 Victor Axelsen which went on for 3 sets. Chinese was certainly the favorite, he lived up to the expectations by taking 1 set easily with a score of 21-12. World no- 9 Axelsen was not in a mood to go down without a fight. 2 set saw neck to neck battle with both players taking 10 points each. Axelsen fought back to show the World no-1 that he deserves to be in the final and secured the 2 set, 21-14. 3 set was a replay of 2 set with scores level till 10 points and Axelsen going into set break with a marginal lead of 11-10. Thereafter, Chen took a narrow lead of 1 point to lead the game 17-16. Top seed Chinese was not in a mood to allow Axelsen pull off another upset and thrashed his dream of the title in a close fought battle which ended with a score of 21-18.

 2. Carolina Marin v/s Wang Shixian- A battle of two All England Champions. This year England Open champion Carolina Marin raced away in the 1 set with a lead of 8-2, but the Chinese fought back to narrow down the lead to 2 points till set break. Seeded 3 Marin was on the verge of closing the 1 game with a score of 20-18, but 5 seeded Chinese tried to claw her way back by taking 2 points. World no-3 Marin finally won the set with a score of 22-20. Again in 2 set Marin didn’t allow Wang Shixian to come back in the game and clinched the title with a score of 21-18 in the decisive set. Marin was in tears after winning the match, she lost here in the finals last year to World no-1 Saina Nehwal of India. This one is her third title this year. She has already won All England Championship & Malaysia Open Superseries.

3. Ma Jin/ Tang Yuanting v./s Tang Jinhua & Tian Qing– In an all Chinese affair it was 5 seeded pair of Ma Jin & Tang Yuanting who prevailed over 6 seeded pair of Tang Jinhua & Tian Qing in a competitive game. It was an evenly matched contest between the two Chinese pairs that saw pair of Ma Jin & Tang Yuanting taking 1 set 21-19 in a close fight. 6 seeded Chinese pair of Tang Jinhua & Tian Qing then took 2 set with the score of 21-16. 3 set again saw a see-saw battle between the two pairs and game going to the wire; finally 5 seeded Chinese pair held their nerves to take the the 3 set 22-20 and win the Women Doubles title.

4. Lee Yong Dae/ Yoo Yeong Seong v/s Liu Cheng/Lu Kai- World no-1 & top seeded Korean pair of L Yong Dae & Y Yeong Seong was up against unseeded Chinese pair of L Cheng & L Kai. World no.1 was favorite going into the match, as expected they took early lead of 11-8 going into the set break and finally closing down the set with a score of 21-16. Chinese pair game back strong in the 2 set, going into the set break with a score of 11-8. World no-1 then leveled the score by taking 3 points & they won the Men’s doubles title by taking 3 set 21-17.

5. Liu Cheng/ Bao Yixin v/s Lee Chun Hei Reginald/Chau Hoi Wah – 4 seeded Chinese pair of L. Cheng & B. Yixin lost in a 3 set battle to World no-12 & unseeded pair of  Chun Hei Reginald & C. Hoi Wah of Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s unseeded mixed doubles pair took the 1 set 21-19 in a close contest. But 4th seeded Chinese pair came back strongly & took the 2 set with the score of 21-19. Finally World no-12 Hong Kong’s pair won the mixed doubles title by taking the 3 set with a score line of 21-15.