Daily Times

TOKYO: Rising Thai badminton star Kunlavut Vitidsarn on Saturday set up a world championships final clash with Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen and said he is looking to learn from the world number one. The 21-year-old Vitidsarn beat China’s Zhao Junpeng 22-20, 21-6 in their semi-final and then watched Axelsen give another masterclass in his 21-15, 21-17 win over Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen. Axelsen has lost only one singles match this season and he has not dropped a single game at this week’s world championships in Tokyo. Vitidsarn acknowledged that he is facing a “really difficult” task in Sunday’s final but he is looking to soak up as much as he can from sharing a court with the world’s best player. In the women’s singles, Japan’s defending champion Akane Yamaguchi will face China’s Chen Yufei in Sunday’s final. Chen beat Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying 15-21, 21-14, 21-18 to become the first Chinese woman to reach a world final since 2016. Yamaguchi beat South Korea’s An Se-young 21-19, 21-12 to advance to the final for the second year running.