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Having crossed swords in the group stages of the ongoing BWF World Tour Finals 2021, World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen and the 21st-ranked Lakshya Sen will clash yet again in the semifinals in Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday.
Their last face-off ended in a 21-15, 21-14 victory for the Dane. Axelsen will once again head into the upcoming meeting as the favorite to come through.
The 27-year-old has been the best player of the year by a mile. His haul of six titles in 2021 includes the highly-coveted Tokyo Olympics gold medal. Axelsen has managed to carry that stellar form into the post-Olympic phase of the season as well, winning the Denmark Open and the Indonesia Open.
This week, the Dane hasn't had to exert himself much. World No. 2 Kento Momota and the 10th-ranked Rasmus Gemke both bowed out of Group A due to their respective injuries, leaving Axelsen and Lakshya Sen as the only two players to progress into the semis.
Both Axelsen and Sen thus got an opportunity to play only one full match, which was their showdown that the Dane won.
While Sen is definitely the underdog heading into the semifinal meeting, he can be proud of his efforts and will hope to learn a lot from this enriching experience. The 20-year-old became the youngest Indian to qualify for the BWF World Tour Finals following a consistent season. Sen finished as the runner-up at the Dutch Open, besides making a couple of semis and quarters on the tour.
He also made it to the last four of the BWF World Tour Finals on his debut and will now look to make a statement against Axelsen. Being the fast learner that Sen is, he will hope to avoid the mistakes he made in their most recent clash and give the planet's best player a run for his money.
BWF World Tour Finals 2021: Match details
Fixture: Lakshya Sen vs Viktor Axelsen
Head-to-head: Viktor Axelsen leads Lakshya Sen 3-0 in the head-to-head. The Dane beat the Indian 21-15, 21-14 in their most recent meeting in the group stages of the BWF World Tour Finals 2021 earlier this week.
Date: 4 December 2021.
Time: Approx 8 pm local time, 5:30 pm IST.
Tournament: HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021.
Round: Semifinals
Venue: Bali, Indonesia.
Category: Season-ending championships.
Prize money: $1,500,000.
BWF World Tour Finals 2021: TV schedule
The 2021 BWF World Tour Finals is being telecast live on the Star Sports Select 1 & Star Sports Select 1 HD TV channels.
BWF World Tour Finals 2021: Live streaming details
The 2021 BWF World Tour Finals can be live-streamed on the Disney+Hotstar app.
