Rare record from a rare man

On 28th November, the world no.2, Viktor Axelsen, won the BWF World Tour Super 1000 Indonesia Open title against world no.26, Loh Kean Yew.

The Olympic champion was stretched to three games by the 24-year-old, but the Dane eventually beat the young Singaporean 21-13, 9-21, 21-13 in 59 minutes. In doing so, Viktor picked up a unique record that has never been attained in the sport before.

Sunday's title match was the fifth World Tour Super 1000 final of the year and the win gave him the fourth Super 1000 title for the year. The 27-year-old became the first-ever player to qualify to attain this rare feat.

Viktor started the year with back-to-back World Tour Super 1000 titles in January, the Yonex Thailand Open, and the Toyota Thailand Open. The 2017 world champion had a 29 match unbeaten record leading up to the 2020 World Tour Finals ( played in January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). He lost the World Tour Finals to fellow compatriot Anders Antonsen.

Viktor continued his dominant run at the Tokyo Olympics and won the gold medal, doing so became only the second European men’s singles player to do so (after fellow countryman Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen).

On his return home after the Olympics, Viktor reached his fourth Super 1000 finals at the Denmark Open and won it too. That was his third Super 1000 title for this year. His recent victory against his friend on Sunday marked this rare achievement.

In the post-match interview, Viktor said, “I couldn’t have dreamt of a better year, I’m staying in the moment and enjoying it and to have my family by my side is really special. With a busy calendar like we have, you are always looking forward to the next big event and the next big event after that”.

Viktor will look to avenge his 2020 World Tour Finals loss at the HSBC World Tour Finals 2021 that starts on Wednesday.