Kyiv: Viktor Axelsen, the 2016 and 2018 champion, eased into the quarter-finals of the 28th European Championships by beating Max Weisskirchen of Germany 21-12, 21-11 on Thursday.
“I might have taken my foot off the pedal in the second set, but Max did play well today,” said Axelsen after the match.
“Of course, I am not able to stay in the top shape at all tournaments, however, I want to perform well here. Obviously, there’s also an Asian tour coming up, I want to perform well in those tournaments as well. It’s about finding the balance between practicing and still having the energy to perform in tournaments,” added Axelsen.
The top-seeded player from Denmark will play No. 8 seed Thomas Rouxel of France on Friday.
Meanwhile, the second-seeded Anders Antonsen got off to a disturbingly slow start by losing the first game to unseeded Emre Lale of Turkey 11-21, before winning the next two 21-10, 21-12. The World No. 3 player will take on No. 6 seed Brice Leverdez of France in the quarter-finals.
“I was using the whole match trying to find my rhythm, hopefully, I can play better in the upcoming matches,” said Antonsen.
In women’s singles, No. 1 seed Carolina Marin from Spain continued her dominance in the third round, quickly racing to a 21-12, 21-11 victory over Soraya De Visch Eijbergen of the Netherlands. Marin will face No. 6 seed Denline Højmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in the final 8.
In men’s doubles, the defending champions, Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen showed their ruthless attacks to quell the challenge of Glib Beketov/Mykhaylo Makhnovskiy of Ukraine with 21-4, 21-9 in just 22 minutes. The No. 1 seeds from Denmark will take on No. 7 seeds Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov from France in the next round.
