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What's the story?
The spirit of sportsmanship was upheld when Viktor Alexsen, who is currently vying for the Dubai Superseries Finals title, sent in a service error on purpose after the chair umpire did not spot him touching the net while returning a shot against Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen.
The Danish shuttler took the matter into his own hands in the third game of Friday's game after a lengthy argument between the umpire and Tien Chen did not change the scenario and the Chinese shuttler did not get the point.
In case you didn't know
The 23-year old Axelsen, who is also known by his Chinese name An Sailong, is the defending champion of the BWF World Championships, a title which he won earlier this year after beating Lin Dan in the final.
A 2016 Europian Championships victor, Axelsen was also part of the historic first-ever Thomas Cup win for the Denmark team the same year. A win in the finals of the Japan Open tournament in Tokyo pushed him to the top of the rankings in 2017.
Heart of the Matter
In his final group stage game against Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, the path to victory was tough but that did not deter the Denmark-born shuttler to play according to the spirit of the game.
Having won the opening game 21-16, Tien Chen came back strong in the second game to equalize with a 14-21 win but soon enough, the numero-uno ranked Axelsen broke through and toiled hard to win the match 21-15 and enter the knockout stages.
What's next?
Axelsen, with back to back victories, will be riding high on confidence and will surely pose a major threat to his opponents in the knockout stages in the remainder of the Superseries Finals.
Author's Take
Considering the stress that a player constantly goes through while playing any sport, it is good to see the spirit of sportsmanship being upheld which only speaks volumes about Axelsen's positive approach to the game and respect he has towards the sport and his opponents.
