KUALA LUMPUR: The herculean effort in conquering Viktor Axelsen in the recent World Tour Finals group stage, was a major confidence booster for China's Shi Yu Qi for this year's season which began with the Malaysia Open this week.
In the season finale held from December 13-17, Yu Qi, 27, managed to stun the world number one Danish shuttler 21-19, 21-19 in the group stage at Hangzhou, but could not repeat his feat in the final to claim the title after going down 11-21, 12-21 before his home crowd.
However, the 2018 World Tour Finals champion said the victory in the group stage was only his second in 11 encounters with the Dane so far, and it was crucial in elevating his morale to face the Paris 2024 Olympics in July, apart from progressing far in the Malaysia Open.
"In every match played against Axelsen, I want to challenge my mindset, win or lose. He is the world's top player and it is not easy to beat him. Not only against Axelsen but also against any player as we can learn a lot," he told Bernama.
Earlier, the 2018 World Championship silver medalist easily cleared his Malaysia Open second round hurdle by beating Frenchman Toma Junior Popov 21-13, 21-5 at Axiata Arena, here.
"I prepared well for this tournament, so it made me win with big margin in the second set, as I knew he could play well in both singles and doubles. I hope to do better in Malaysia Open this time (finals), but would take one step at a time," said Yu Qi, who was eliminated in the first round last year, while his best achievement was the semi-finals in 2019.
In the quarter-finals tomorrow, he will face his compatriot Lu Guang Zu, who continued his giant-killing act to oust fourth seed, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 23-21, 25-23, the former's first win after losing all five previous matches.
Guang Zu, who beat Malaysia's number one Lee Zii Jia 16-21, 21-19, 21-15 in the first round, said his pre season preparations helped him to start the season strongly.
"Tomorrow's match will be difficult because Yu Qi is stronger, but I will fight for my place in the semi-finals," he said after having only won twice in nine matches against his compatriot.
Meanwhile, Ginting said his defeat was mainly because Guang Zu played very well with less mistakes, while he was not in his best form.
"This year is very important because there are only a few months left for the Olympics, so I will continue to prepare and hope to avoid injury as the main goal is the Olympics.
"For the men's singles (at the Olympics) all the players are considered the main challengers in an open contest. All players have a chance, it depends on how they prepare themselves and the actual performance at the games later ," the Indonesian said on the Paris 2024 Games. — Bernama