HONG KONG, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark wasted six match points before beating Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting to reach the final of the Hong Kong Open badminton championships on Saturday.
Second-seeded Axelsen took only 15 minutes to win the first set 21-9 and pulled ahead 20-13 in the second. However, Ginting stormed back to make it 20-19 and Axelsen, showing his left side of his back to the referee, immediately called an injury timeout.
After receiving some quick treatment, Axelsen returned to the court to kill off the match 21-19.
"I'm very happy with 90 percent of the match," he said. "But not the last 10 percent. I made too many bad decisions in the second set when he had improved a lot. But I am very happy to be in the final."
Axelsen, playing his first tournament since retaining his Olympic crown in Paris, will fight for the title against Lei Lanxi, after the 33rd-ranked Chinese shocked defending champion and third seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-14, 12-21, 21-17.
On the women's side, third seed Han Yue of China defeated Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 22-20, 21-10, while Indonesia's Putri Kusuma Wardani ousted Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki 22-20, 21-23, 21-18.
Han, who had defeated Wardani in the Malaysia Open in January, believed that she can win the title.
"We are familiar with each other," she said. "I will try my best to beat her."
China secured the mixed doubles trophy after top seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping, and second seeds Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin both came away with victories.
Feng and Huang beat Malaysia's duo of Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei 21-14, 23-21, while Jiang and Wei breezed past local pair and last year's runners-up Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet, 21-12, 21-6. ■