Denmark s Axelsen suffers shock defeat in All England first round

BIRMINGHAM – Dane Viktor Axelsen’s quest for a third All England title ended on March 12 as he lost 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi in a big first-round upset.

The 31-year-old Axelsen, one of the favourites to win the tournament, told Danish broadcaster TV2 he would take a break from the sport.

“I didn’t have the best feeling out there. I think it’ll be a while before I’m back on court,” he said.

“I don’t want to go into details. I think a longer break is ahead for me.”

The world No. 4 won the All England title in 2020 and 2022, and he is a two-time Olympic champion, two-time world Champion, and four-time European Champion.

Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second.

The Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider, however, as Lin reeled off six points in a row en route to sealing the win.

“If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen.

“Today’s opponent played a fantastic game, it was disappointing but that is how it is.

“I just tried to survive in the match. There is always a lot of pressure when I am here at the All England and every single day, and I got tense when my body was feeling bad and it affected my entire game.”

India’s two-time Olympic medallist P. V. Sindhu also made a surprise early exit, bowing out 19-21, 21-13 ,21-13 in the women’s singles first round to Kim Ga-eun of South Korea.

The world No. 21 will next face fourth-ranked Han Yue of China in the last 16.

Meanwhile, world No. 26 Yushi Tanaka got the better of eighth seed Kodai Naraoka 21-13, 15-21, 21-9 in an all-Japanese men’s