Viktor Axelsen withdraws from BWF China Masters 2023

He recently won the Japan Masters title.

World No.1 Viktor Axelsen has officially withdrawn from the ongoing BWF China Masters 2023. The Denmark international enjoyed good success at the last week’s Japan Masters where he defeated Shi Yuqi to clinch the men’s singles title.

Tokyo Olympic champion via his social media handle X (formerly Twitter) said, “A short update to let you know that I unfortunately won’t be participating in China Masters this week. Would’ve loved to play, but my foot is simply not ready to play consecutive weeks with many hard matches.”

He further iterated, “I will take a few days to recover and get healthy before I jump on the court again. A shame, as I love to play in China, but luckily I will come back in December for the HSBC World Tour Finals.”

Having already secured qualification for BWF World Tour Finals 2023, the world no.1 had the option to take ample rest and get back to full fitness in a few week’s time. Axelsen off late has been battling with injuries and was forced to retire midway in the opening round encounter against Angus Ka Long at the French Open 2023.

A few weeks later, he made a fine return to the circuit at the Japan Masters. The world no.1 faced stern tests against youngster NG Tze Yong in pre-quarters and Jonatan Christie in the quarterfinals. In the final against Shi Yuqi, he had to battle for close to 70 minutes to clinch the title.

In the Dane’s absence men’s singles category will have several contenders to lift the trophy. Home favourites Shi Yuqi and BWF World Tour Finals 2023 leader Li Shifeng will be the one of the favourites in the long standing list.

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