19 Candid Questions With Badminton’s Mega Star, Viktor Axelsen

Viktor Axelsen won every big silverware up on offer in 2017. He started the year as the world number 3 and by September, the Danish star had climbed to the top of the rankings, for the first time in his career.

Two Super Series titles, his first World Championship gold and also a big win in the year-ending Super Series Finals are just some of the highlights of Axelsen’s mega season. Now as he starts 2018, Viktor is in India as part of Bengaluru Blasters’ team in the Premier Badminton League.

The Quint caught up with him on the sidelines of the tournament and got him to talk about his season, his stellar year and also a few changes the BWF has enforced on the players.

The world number one slammed the BWF for enforcing new rules for 2018 season which make it mandatory for all top-15 ranked players to feature in at-least 12 tournaments a year. He said the sport’s parent body should instead focus on improving the quality of tournaments rather than cramming the calendar with more events.

"I think BWF need to focus on making the quality of the highest standard instead of putting more tournaments in the calendar," said the Odense-born shuttler, who also defended his title at the Dubai Super Series Final this season.

When asked about the new service rule which will be tested starting with the All England Championship next year, Axelsen said: "I think it is a ridiculous rule. You don't lower the basket in basketball because taller players have an easier time dunking.

"I know there might be some issues in men's doubles, but I don't think a fixed height will change it. This is just making it harder for taller players, so it is not fair at all.

"It is ridiculous to try it out at All England, which is a prestigious tournament. Personally for me, I will figure it out but for more taller players like (Vladimir) Ivanov and (Mads Pieler) Kolding, it is ridiculous," he said.

Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Maurya
Video Editor: Kunal Mehra