The reigning Olympic champion took just 53 minutes to beat the unseeded Indian 21-10, 21-15 at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham. Dane Shuttler has now extended his one-on-one lead against Sen to 5-1.
The young Indian was bidding to become only the third person after shutter Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) to win the All England Open badminton championship, or simply the All England which is the world’s oldest and most prestigious badminton tournament.
The top seed was the man who took a 6–0 lead in the first game and then ran for a nine-point lead in the mid-game interval.
After the restart, the Danish shuttler continued to destroy the world No 11 Indian as he won the first game without breaking a sweat.
The second game started at a brisk pace as the shuttle kept changing on both players’ racquets but the Danish athlete again came out on top at the mid-game break, this time with a four-point lead.
The change of sides did no favors for Sen as he continued to struggle against the former All England champion’s smash. Axelsen, playing in his fourth consecutive All-England final, did not provide any respite to the young shuttler as he continued his charge and demolished any resistance shown by Sen.
Dane Shuttler eventually ended the match by winning the second game 21–15.
Having participated in this final, Sen is now only the fifth Indian – after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980 and 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) – to feature in the All England summit clash. For making .
India’s rising badminton star has been in top form in recent times. She secured her maiden World Championship bronze in December, before winning her maiden Super 500 title at the India Open in January and runner-up at the German Open last week.
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