Thailand secures Olympic medal as badminton 'prodigy' reaches final
Báo Tuổi Trẻ•04/08/2024
The men's singles badminton final at the 2024 Olympics will be an interesting match between Viktor Axelsen and Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Kunlavut Vitidsarn became the first Thai player in history to reach the Olympic badminton men's singles final - Photo: REUTERS
In the first semi-final match of the 2024 Olympics on August 4, Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) won against Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia) with a score of 2-0 (21-14, 21-15). Kunlavut showed that although he is younger, he is still a classier player. Throughout the 2 games, the Thai player had annoying shuttlecock movements, putting Lee Zii Jia in a difficult position and unable to launch his signature powerful smashes. The match only lasted 51 minutes. Lee Zii Jia could only create tense situations in the early stages of each game. Everything was almost under Kunlavut's control in the final stages. With this victory, Kunlavut Vitidsarn became the first badminton player in Thai history to win a ticket to the Olympic men's singles final. He is also sure to bring home at least a silver medal. Kunlavut Vitidsarn's challenge in the final will be Viktor Axelsen (Denmark). This will be an interesting match as Axelsen is the reigning Olympic champion, while Vitidsarn is the reigning world champion.
Viktor Axelsen has a chance to defend his Olympic gold medal - Photo: REUTERS
The Danish player is highly regarded for his extensive experience. Since winning the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, his career has been on the rise and he has held the world No. 1 position for a long time. Currently, Axelsen has dropped to No. 2 but he has maintained his high performance at the Olympics as well as previous tournaments. If he wins, the Danish player will be the second athlete after Lin Dan (China) to successfully defend the Olympic men's singles gold medal. Meanwhile, Kunlavut Vitidsarn (born in 2002) only really became famous last year, when he won the 2023 World Badminton Championship. But since then, Kunlavut has made steady progress to enter the world's top 10. He is currently ranked No. 8. The 2024 Olympic men's singles badminton final is scheduled to take place at 8:40 p.m. on August 5. Before that will be the bronze medal match between Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia) and Lakshya Sen (India). If Lee Zii Jia wins, he will also help Malaysia win a medal at this year's Olympics.
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