24-22 in the deciding game, a comeback on the save point! The two-time Olympic champion roared, and the famous Japanese player failed to slay the dragon.

In the early morning of October 17, in the second round of the men’s singles at the 2025 Danish Badminton Open, two-time Olympic champion Axelsen achieved a thrilling victory. He narrowly defeated Japanese star Yushi Tanaka 24-22 in the decisive game, saving a match point and going from losing one game to winning two consecutive games to comeback 2-1! After the game, Axelsen roared passionately to celebrate this hard-won victory!

Since his return from knee surgery, Axelsen has lost many times to opponents who were difficult to compete with him in the past. Through observation of many games, we can clearly feel that Axelsen's physical condition is not as good as before, resulting in slower movement of his feet, and his coherence and recovery after killing the ball have dropped by a notch. Considering Axelsen's 31-year-old age, it is almost impossible to return to his past peak state.

However, in the Danish Badminton Open where he competes locally, Axelsen definitely wants to make another run. At least not to be eliminated early in the first two rounds. If he can win the final championship, of course it will be the best result. Axelsen, who has dropped to 31st in the world rankings, has long lost the lottery bonus of a seed player. In the first round, he met Zhou Tiancheng, the fifth player in the world. Axelsen performed well in his debut, winning two consecutive games with 21-19 and 21-12. He eliminated Zhou Tiancheng with a big score of 2-0 and entered the top 16 of men's singles.

In this round of 16-to-8 competition, Axelsen met the Japanese star Yushi Tanaka. In the past, Tanaka Yushi had no chance to upset Axelsen. But now, Yushi Tanaka is expected to become one of the dragon-slaying warriors.

In this battle, Tanaka Yushi took the lead and used fast-paced offense and defense to fully demonstrate his age advantage. He quickly won the first game 21-11 and took a big 1-0 lead.

Axelsen, who was not willing to be eliminated early on his home soil, relied on his own experience to deal with Tanaka Yuuji, and regained a victory 21-19, catching up to a 1-1 tie. The competition in the decisive game was fierce, especially at the last moment. The two sides saved each other's match points. The more ambitious Axelsen narrowly defeated 24-22 and entered the men's singles quarterfinals. Japanese star Yushi Tanaka failed to slay the dragon.