The reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen has confirmed that he will return to action at the Hong Kong Open after enjoying a sabbatical following his successful gold medal quest at the Paris Olympics earlier this month. The world No. two took to 'X', formerly Twitter to announce his return to the court.
"My plan as of now is to play Hong Kong Open and China Open as the next two tournaments btw," posted Axelsen on X.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist skipped the recently concluded Japan Open Super 750 tournament to manage his workload after an energy-sapping Paris Olympics. Axelsen will also miss the Super 500 Korea Open (August 27- September 1) and the Super 300 Taipei Open (September 3 to September 8) before the start of the Hong Kong Open on September 10.
The Hong Kong Open is a Super 500 tournament and will run till September 15. It will be followed by the Super 1000 China Open. The China Open is slated to be organised in Changzhou from September 17 onwards and will conclude on September 22.
Notably, the 30-year-old was unstoppable at the Summer Games as he didn't drop a single game and went all the way to defend his title.
He experienced a bit of a stutter in the semi-final against India's Lakshya Sen but eventually managed to hold his nerves and march into the finals. Contrary, to the semifinal Axelsen had a walk in the park in the summit clash where he overpowered the reigning world No. one Kunlavut Vitidsarn to clinch his second-consecutive gold medal.
Axelsen had also responded to his comparison with the Chinese legend Lin Dan after his feat in Paris, "For me, he is the GOAT and I’m just very happy and proud to be, in Olympic terms, on the same level. But in my eyes, he stands as the best ever."
