Both world singles champions, Chen Long and Carolina Marin, were beaten in straight games Saturday on a day when the 2015 form-book was torn up in the badminton Super Series finals n Dubai. Chen, who has won seven Super Series tournaments this year, was beaten for the first time by Viktor Axelsen, the improving world number six from Denmark, only briefly showing his best form when he reached 17-15 in the second game before losing 21-12, 21-17.
Marin, who has won five major titles in her finest ever year, was beaten 21-11, 21-12, by Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, a result which was perhaps a little less surprising because it was the second time in 24 hours that it happened. The conditions in Dubai are slow and Marin's attacking game was unable to make much impact against a superbly mobile opponent who consistently got the shuttle back. It suited Okuhara so much she may start Sunday's women's singles final with an even chance of taking her first major title.
Chen however was by his standards sluggish and error-prone. He also allowed himself to be tied up at the net quite a lot by the canny Axelsen, who knew this was the best way of frustrating his tall opponent's long reach in defence and steep counter-attacks. "I didn't play so well today," Chen admitted. "I didn't have good fortune and my opponent played better than I did. But I am very happy about my performance for most of the year." He already had an eye on his preparation for the Olympics, he half-admitted. He may not have been quite as happy at any tme as Axelsen appeared to be after this, his first win over Chen, and by far the biggest of his career. He ran around in small circles and later acknowledged that he was "overwhelmed".