Twice defending champion Chen crushed by Axelsen at badminton worlds semifinals

LONDON, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Chen Long, bidding for a third successive world men's singles titles, was beaten by Denmark's third seed Viktor Axelsen in the semifinals of the badminton world championships here on Saturday.

The Chinese star, who did not concede a single set in his previous four matches, crashed out after only 39 minutes, losing to the 23-year-old Dane 21-9, 21-10.

Chen, 28, said he was under too much pressure in front of the 1.94-meter rival. "I got the first points, then lost a lot of the next, and that really affected my game. In the second I managed to go ahead and that put a lot of pressure on me, but Victor played very well.

"Congratulations to Victor to getting to the final, he played the perfect game," he added.

Chen, who beat Axelsen in the semifinals of the Rio Olympic Games, said he will "get some rest and get back for the Chinese National Games to kick off in two days."

Axelsen will fight for the world title on Sunday against either five-time winner Lin Dan or top seed Son Wan Ho of South Korea.

Axelsen, who won the bronze in the 2014 worlds and 2016 Rio Olympics, said: "I am still a little out of words, I never expected to win that comfortably, I am very happy. I made little mistakes today and made very few errors.

"It was nice to get revenge from the Olympic semifinals, I am very proud of myself.

"My coach and I always look back at past championships to get better and improve on my game. Denmark is a small country but I am very proud that we can compete with the bigger countries. It's a dream come true, ever since I was a little boy I dreamed of a World Championships final."