Axelsen's Can't Do It, Jonathan Christie Failed To Go To The China Open Final

PHOTO via Instagram @jonatanchristieofficial

JAKARTA Jonathan Christie's struggle in the 2023 China Open badminton tournament had to be stopped in the semifinals. Jojo, unable to get past the world number one player, Victor Axelsen and surrendered 17-21 and 14-21 after fighting for 48 minutes.

Competing at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Changzhou, China, Saturday (9/9) afternoon WIB, Jojo could actually start the match well. In fact, he took a 3-0 lead over Axelsen. However, slowly the Danish player was able to get up and turn 5-4 ahead.

Not wanting to be far behind, Jojo tried to catch up, and managed to equalize the score 5-5. Unfortunately, Axelsen stepped on the gas again and took the lead up to 9-7. Despite chasing again, Jojo had to close the first game interval with a score of 10-11.

After the interval, the two badminton players chased each other's points, until the same score was 14-14. Axelsen, who was the first seed, shot again and won 16-14, even up to 18-16. Jojo's efforts to cut the score only managed until 17-18 points, before Axelsen closed the first game 21-17.

Entering the second game, Axelsen immediately took the lead with 8-1. Reluctant to surrender, Jojo was able to reduce the margin to 5-8. However, Axelsen was able to maintain the advantage and close the second game interval with 11-5.

Axelsen's struggle continued after the break. In fact, he further outperformed Jojo until the score was 17-9. Although Jojo was able to collect points up to 14, Axelsen, who was increasingly confident, was able to close the second game with a score of 21-14.

This defeat made the record for the second meeting 9-2 for Victor Axelsen's advantage. Jonatan Christie last defeated Axelsen in the 2019 French Open semifinals.