The world’s top Badminton players have descended on Odense for the 2023 Denmark Open. World number one Viktor Axelsen is favored to win his home event, and here we look ahead to his Round of 16 match against Lee Zii Jia in our latest Badminton betting picks.
- What: 2023 Denmark Open Badminton
- Who: Viktor Axelsen vs. Lee Zii Jia
- Where: Arena Fyn, Odense, Denmark
- Competition Dates: Tuesday, October 17th – Sunday, October 22nd
The Denmark Open is one of the most prestigious Badminton events on the BWF World Tour. First held in 1936, it is the second-oldest Badminton tournament on the current roster.
As a Super 750 event, this is one of the top events outside the four Super 1000 tournaments. Think of it a bit like the 5th golf Major or one of the top Masters competitions in tennis, just a tier below the Grand Slams.
Points acquired here count towards the lucrative season-ending BMF World Tour Finals. Only the top eight players in each discipline qualify, and it’s a lucrative competition in the Badminton world with a minimum total prize money of US$1,500,000.
Last year’s winner in Denmark was Shi Yuqi. The Chinese defeated Lee Zii Jia in three sets in the final, becoming the first Chinese to win the men’s event since the legendary Chen Long won the last of his four titles in 2015.
Viktor Axelson won this title in 2021, defeating Kento Momota in three sets. Defending his title didn’t go well 12 months ago. Last year, Axelsen lost to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the quarter-finals.
Home favorite Axelsen looking for his second Denmark Open title
Home favorite Viktor Axelsen is the favorite to win the 2023 Denmark Open and is also the number-one seed. He started the competition with an excellent chance of victory. But he has since been greatly helped after a succession of shocks in Wednesday’s Round of 32.
The competition was blown wide open on the opening day of action in the men’s draw, with five of the eight seeds already gone.
In the opening round, Kodai Naraoka (3), Kunlavut Vitidsarn (4), Jonatan Christie (5), and Li Shifeng (8) all got knocked out. They join number seven seed Prannoy H. S. (who withdrew from the competition) on the sidelines.
Along with No.1 seed, Viktor Axelsen, only Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (2) and 2022 champion Shi Yuqi (6) will be taking their places in the Round of 16 on Thursday.
Viktor Axelsen (-800) vs. Lee Zii Jia (+450)
The money line heavily favors the home favorite, with Viktor Axelsen at -800. His opponent, Lee Zii Jia is +450 to cause an upset and knock the 2021 champion out of the competition.
On the handicap spread, Viktor Axelsen is still the favorite. Giving away a 1.5 set lead, Axelsen is -200 to win and cover the spread. This is a bet on Axelsen winning two sets to nil.
Finally, the total points spread is 75.5. A bet on over 75.5 is -110. Under 75.5 is -125. Those odds suggest the best Badminton betting sites can see a routine two-set win for the Danish world number one.
Below, we have put together more Badminton odds on our betting table. For more information about the bookmakers used, please visit our free bets and promotions page.
Our Viktor Axelsen vs. Lee Zii Jia Betting Picks
In the opening round, Viktor Axelsen made light work of fellow Dane Magnus Johannesen. Axelsen took the opening set 21-7 and completed his routine win by taking the second set 21-9.
His opponent on Thursday, Lee Zii Jia won his opening match in a hard-fought three-setter against Belgium’s Julien Carraggi. The Belgian took a fiercely competitive first set 21-19, but Lee bounced back to level the match by winning the second set 21-15. At this point, the unseeded Lee had worn his opponent down, and he completed the win by taking the third set 21-10.
Belgium’s young star Julien Carraggi 🇧🇪 will play his biggest tournament at #DenmarkOpen2023 this week.#BWFWorldTourhttps://t.co/Qbh7Yf5bgF
— BWF (@bwfmedia) October 17, 2023
As was witnessed last year, Viktor Axelsen has a defeat in him. But we don’t feel it will happen in the early rounds. The Dane is ranked number one in the world and is also fifth in the World Tour Rankings. He won’t want to let his World Tour ranking go any lower, so we expect him to be fully focused.
And Axelsen will need to be focused as well. His opponent Lee Zii Jia will be no pushover. The win over Carraggi was against a good up-and-coming talent, and just last Sunday, Lee won the 2023 Arctic Open in Finland.
Back Axelsen to cover the spread
Because of the form of Lee, we are not backing Viktor Axelsen to win at -800. That is way too risky. We do feel that Axelsen will win. And we believe it will be in two sets. They may be close sets, but we see the Dane emerging victorious.
We are happy to make Axelsen our betting pick to win on the handicap spread. And we are also backing under 75.5 total points.
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