Muut

Anders Antonsen's dream of the World Championship final crushed by Vitidsarn

Antonsen's World championship dream was crushed by Vitidsarn
Antonsen's World championship dream was crushed by VitidsarnČTK / AP / Thomas Padilla
Anders Antonsen's dream of booking his ticket for the final in the Badminton World Championships came to an end when he lost in the semi-final to Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn 17-21, 15-21

The Thai badminton star made very few errors in the semi-final against his Aarhus competitor and won 21-17, 21-15.

Anders Antonsen, on the other hand, struggled to find his game in the middle of the first set and at the end of the second set. Vitidsarn punished it duly, winning six successive points in the decisive set to pave his way to the final.

The Dane must therefore settle for a bronze medal. Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup also lost earlier on Saturday, and no Danes thus reached the finals at the World Championships in Paris.

"I am very disappointed. I think it was very unresolved. It was a really difficult match, and the conditions were very difficult to handle", said Anders Antonsen to TV 2 after the match.

The first set between Antonsen and Vitidsarn was completely even at the beginning. Antonsen and Vitidsarn had some very long and very entertaining duels several times.

But as the set progressed, Vitidsarn seized the initiative, while Antonsen fell half a step behind. It became more and more pronounced, and eventually, Antonsen could no longer keep up.

In the second set, neither of the two lost concentration or level until the very end. It remained close far into the set, and it was impossible to say who would emerge victorious.

Until the score was 18-15 in favor of the Thai, the gap between the two had not been more than two points. But Vitidsarn finally recorded six successive points and closed the match very, very effectively.