Mark of a champion: Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen celebrates after defeating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the Malaysian Open final. — AP
PETALING JAYA: Denmark’s two-time Malaysian Open champion Viktor Axelsen quipped that he was happy that Lee Chong Wei is not playing anymore.
It was a joke but also showed Axelsen’s admiration of Chong Wei’s domination at home.
“Chong Wei is a big role model and an amazing player. I’ve played against him in this arena and I’m happy Chong Wei is not playing anymore because he was so good here,” said Axelsen after defending the Malaysian Open title in sheer class on Sunday.
The 29-year-old trounced a tired Kodai Naraoka of Japan 6-21, 15-21 in the men’s singles final to lift the World Tour curtain raiser event.
The powerful way in which he won the title showed the European badminton king is set to dominate again this year with his eyes set on his third world title.
Axelsen wants to outdo Chong Wei as far as winning titles is concerned.
“I feel really inspired by a player like Chong Wei. To be able to look up to him and try to do as well as he did is a big motivation to me,” he said.
Chong Wei has won the Malaysian Open 12 times before nose cancer saw the legend eventually call it a day. Axelsen has lost to Chong Wei 11 times in 14 meetings and also in three Malaysian Open editions – 2018 (quarter-finals), 2016 (quarter-finals) and 2013 (second round).
Axelsen’s second Malaysian Open title was his 27th career title while Chong Wei still holds the record of winning 46 Open titles.
While Axelsen ‘joke’ was a fitting tribute to the retired star, it hit hard at home.
No other local singles shuttler in the current batch have won the Malaysian Open title since Chong Wei’s last in 2018.
While other countries continue to produce new stars to challenge the big guns, like Naraoka for example, Malaysia continue to play catch up game in the men’s singles.
Independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia has all the pedigree to be a champion but he is struggling to find his footing without a coach and his first round defeat to Naraoka does not augur well.
Many feel that it’s hard to sustain as a player at a high level without a coach but Zii Jia believes he can and one can only respect his decision.
Hopefully, the world No. 2 will draw motivation from within to debunk his critics at the Indian Open starting today and many other tournaments lined up this year.
He will face Indonesian Shesar Hiren in the opening round and if he wins, will face the winner of the match between Ng Tze Yong and Li Shifeng.
Tze Yong showed plenty of spunk at home but his lack of experience continued to show as he fell victim to Naraoka in the second round but fortunately, time is on Tze Yong’s side to learn from every defeat.
There are not many others beyond Zii Jia and Tze Yong and the wait to see a men’s singles champion as dominant as Chong Wei at home may be a distant dream for now.
There was some solace in the mixed doubles though as two other new combinations – Hoo Pang Ron-Teoh Mei Xing and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei – showed plenty of promise with their good performances, especially after the retirement of mixed doubles shuttler Goh Liu Ying.
She bowed out of her last competitive action with Chan Peng Soon in the first round.
