Great game against Nishimoto today. Could have been anybody's game.

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Okay, so it is a bit uncomfortable, but if anyone manages to play Viktor Axelsen dizzy to the point of vomiting on court, this just has to be noted somewhere:

Amazing performance in the first game. So refreshing to see such a young guy with so much potential. This will be very interesting to follow to see where his carreer will lead him.

Great interview after the match as well:

"I really waiting for another match because I really want to perform against Viktor at his best."

Fingers crossed we will get to see that sooner rather than later.

The Popov brothers also practice doubles. If they focussed just on singles, would they achieve more?

Dont think so. I´ve heard somewhere (don´t quote me on this) that they never train doubles, only singles. So it wouldnt change much.

I saw Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei playing doubles. Top double players were in trouble with them

I see he didn't qualify for the world tour finals, only in 13th place. But what's odd is that he only participated in 12 tournaments when 14 count towards the WTF ranking. If he played two more tournaments I think it's quite possible he might have qualified.

As far as I know he hasn't been injured so seems pretty weird to not plan the year to give yourself the best chance to qualify for the WTF which I believe is the highest paying tournament.

Saina and Sindhu beat them

Congratulations to Alex Lanier. I haven't been following international badminton much, and I missed the World Championship live matches. But I finally got around to watching a recording of the World Championship Men's Singles Finals today, and Alex Lanier was superb. Like all MS World Champions, their defense is usually in the zone, and Alex's defense was certainly in the zone in the finals.

The surprising and most upsetting win though wasn't in the finals. It was the win against Kunlavut Vitidsarn. After winning the first set, it looked like Vitidsarn would run away with the second set. What a comeback from Lanier in the second set, to save his tournament life, and to flip the script on Vitidsarn. That was a huge upset, and just like how Loh Kean Yew upset Victor Axelsen when Loh Kean Yew won the WC, of course with a huge upset against Vitidsarn, you want to see the person who caused the huge upset to proceed to win the tournament, which happened as well.

I was also surprised to see France won mixed doubles as well. And since I haven't been following international badminton much this year, I was also surprised to see France got 2nd place at the Thomas Cup. In the last decade, I always pegged France as a top 10 badminton country, but not top 5, and certainly not top 3. France is certainly a top 5 country now, and there is a case that they may be even top 3, with their results this year at the Thomas Cup and World Championship, including Christo Popov reaching a high of world rank #2 back in August.