ALL ENGLAND 2012 – Axelsen makes his dream come true

Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen made it to the main draw of the All England Championships after two convincing wins over Suppanyu Avihingsanon from Thailand and Eric Pang of the Netherlands. The […]

Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen made it to the main draw of the Championships after two convincing wins over Suppanyu Avihingsanon from Thailand and Eric Pang of the Netherlands. The young Gun from Denmark however was not far from leaving the tournament on the kick off day as he was trailing in the third game against a very fit Eric Pang before nailing the match 21-19, 13-21, 21-17 and get his ticket for the main draw where he is to play Kenichi Tago.

“I was a bit nervous as this is my first All England. It’s a tournament I’ve seen on TV since I was a kid and this is the first time I actually am part of it, so when I realized I had some chances to qualify for the main draw, I lost a bit of focus. But overall, I’m hapy with my performance here. Of course, it won’t be easy against Tago as he is a very experienced player and has been in the final here before, but I will give it all I have and I have a bit of an advantage to have played in the Hall before” said the 17 year old.

Malaysia has had a good day as well, with Liew Daren – another first comer to this mythical tournament – along with 10 other Malaysians making it to the main draw.  Liew had the longest match of the day against Hsueh Yi Hsuang whom he finally beat in three games after 1h13 minutes. Chong Wei Feng also secured his spot to the main draw after an hour long battle against Guru from INdia.

Local hopes in the women’s double Jenny Wallwork and Gabby White also made it to the main draw where they’ll meet top seeds Wang and Yu from China.

All results HERE

If you are coming for the All England Championships, or whenever you visit Birmingham, try Badzine’s partner hotel, the City Nites Apartments. Offering fully-serviced apartments, it is a stylish setting for long or short-term business people and visitors, and a great place to stay during the Championships.

CLICK HERE to make a reservation at the City Nites

Raphaël Sachetat

About Raphaël Sachetat

Raphael is the Chief Editor of Badzine International. He is the founder of the website together with Jean François Chauveau. After many years writing for the BWF and many publications around the world about badminton, he now leads a team of young and dynamic writers for Badzine.