World No. 1 and top seed for the Singapore Badminton Open (SBO) 2022, Viktor Axelsen has withdrawn from the July 12-17 tournament.
In an official statement to the Singapore Badminton Association, Badminton Danmark’s Head Coach Kenneth Jonassen wrote: “Viktor is withdrawing from the Singapore Open 2022 due to fatigue of playing back to back tournaments. He will now turn his focus to the BWF World Championships in Tokyo.”
Through a story on his Instagram account, the 28-year-old Dane shared: “When I woke up this morning my body and my head was telling me that it’s time to rest and recharge before I step on the court again. I need some days off to rest, celebrate my recent wins with my family and then build up towards new goals.”
Having started his winning streak at the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England in March 2022, Axelsen has gone on to clinch the top spot at the 2022 European Championships, Indonesian Masters, Indonesian Open and most recently at the Malaysian Open against World No.2 Kento Momota.
The news of Axelsen’s withdrawal follows an earlier announcement made by fellow Dane and World No.3 Anders Antonsen, who cited an undisclosed injury as his reason for pulling out of the matches in both Malaysia and Singapore.
Big names still to play at SBO
Although disappointed by the news of Axelsen and Antonsen’s withdrawals, the organisers, Singapore Badminton Association (SBA), assured badminton fans of exciting games to come.
“It is unfortunate that Viktor has had to pull out. He would have been a player that the fans would have loved to see in action,” said SBA Chief Executive Officer Alan Ow.
“Although we will be missing both him and Anders Antonsen, the SBO still boasts a stellar field of close to 25 of the world’s top ranking players.
“Some of the names set to light up the Singapore Indoor Stadium include World No.2 women’s singles player Tai Tzu Ying and World No.4 men’s singles player Chou Tien Chen. Fans can also look forward to our very own world champion Loh Kean Yew as he bids to do well on home soil.”
Malaysia’s World No. 10 men’s pairing of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi
Set to play to a record crowd of 6,000 spectators, the Singapore Badminton Open will also see the likes of women’s doubles Chinese World no. 1 Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan as well as mixed doubles Thai World No. 2 Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai take the stage in Singapore.
Singapore Badminton Open 2022 takes place from 12 – 17 July 2022 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Tickets are selling out fast, with season passes and a number of single-day passes to certain match days, including the semi-finals and finals, have sold out.
Tickets start from $5 for children and $30 for adults.
Fans can still choose to purchase single-day tickets to other match days.
Single-day tickets start from $5 for children and $30 for adults.
Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster: https://ticketmaster.sg/
