Congratulations to Denmark! With Carsten Mogensen out because of his brain surgery, and Mathias Boe without a partner, Denmark pulled off a win that most didn't expect that they could. Denmark has been the runner up at the Thomas Cup for something like 10 times - never winning - but they finally shrugged off that destiny today. Denmark always deserved to win a Thomas Cup because they have been a top 5 country in badminton for so long, but it was depressing that they couldn't do it until now.
Viktor Axelsen lead the charge by playing his best badminton for such a major tournament. He wasn't expected to beat LCW but he pushed LCW in two close sets. Otherwise, Viktor Axlesen cleaned up the rest of his matches. I would have expected JoJ would have better dealt as the lead MS player for Denmark because it's the highest pressure position for Denmark and JoJ has much more experience than Viktor. Nevermind, Viktor Axelsen took on the pressure and was a huge factor as to why Denmark played so well in the playoff portion of the Thomas Cup.
When JoJ injured himself, Denmark was looking likely to lose in the playoffs. But the Denmark team played through, especially with huge win by Emil Host. With 2 days rest, JoJ was able to come back and play stellar badminton and win the 3rd match. The comeback of JoJ meant a lot because he added that much more depth the Denmark team, given their doubles was weak. Vittinghus sealed the deal with his 5th match.
If you had told me Denmark would win, given Carsten Mogensen's injury and Mathias Boe playing without a partner that fits him, I probably wouldn't have thought it could be possible. I will say this - Denmark made the most of situation and that's why they won. Given China was knocked out and Japan was without Momota or Tago, Denmark made sure they made the best of their situation and won when it counted. It's easy to say this, but don't forget that multiple times this year in the superseries, when Chen Long/LCW/LD were knocked out early in the superseries in the same half of the bracket as Viktor Axelsen or JoJ, leaving Viktor Axelsen and JoJ a clear path the final, Viktor Axelsen and JoJ simply wasted their opportunity and lost to a lower ranked player before they reached the final. In this tournament, Viktor Axelsen and JoJ won when they needed to, opposite of their play in the superseries this year. Denmark also took advantage of Korea's win over China - they did everything they needed to do to win it all.
As for Viktor, I think he is still an underdog against LCW heading into the Olympics. Having said that, I wouldn't count out a shock upset of Viktor against LD or Chen Long at the Olympics (especially with LD and Chen Long under performing at times over the last year). This must be a huge boost of confidence to Viktor Axelsen who is unable to win a SS so far because Viktor has made history for Denmark. Chen Long needs to find his groove back. I liken Chen Long to Srikanth Kidambi - somebody who has lost his confidence and ability to win. It's hard to judge LD in this tournament since he was always the second MS player so he wasn't really tested but at least LD won when he was expected to. If Viktor and JoJ play well at the Olympics, Denmark has an outside shot for gold or silver (LCW, LD, and Chen Long are still the favorites).