Viktor Axelsen: Didnt Want to Grow Too Tall, Once Worried About Not Being Able to Play Badminton

Jayce September 6, 2024 3 0

This week, Viktor Axelsen, who is aiming for his third consecutive title at the Malaysia Open, talked again about his height.

Standing at 194 cm, Axelsen has previously expressed his frustrations when competing in Asia, especially in Japan. He mentioned the difficulties he faced off-court, such as low passageways in venues, which required him to crouch to get through.

Axelsen once commented that during his tournaments in Asia, the showerheads in hotel bathrooms were usually set very low, turning his hair-washing into a good squat workout.

He recalled worrying that growing too tall might prevent him from playing men’s singles. At the age of 17, Axelsen already stood at 190 cm and had become the first European player to dominate the World Junior Championships at 16.

The Danish world number one remembered, “Someone told me that if I grew too tall, I wouldn’t be suitable for men’s singles. I felt immense pressure because I was almost taller than all the top men’s singles players. I was disappointed; I didn’t want to grow that tall because I didn’t want to be unable to play men’s singles.”

“When things didn’t go my way during training or matches, I would sometimes develop negative feelings and blame my physique. I thought being lighter would help my game. However, when I became too thin, I had no energy after training, and my performance suffered.”

However, in 2011, Axelsen regained his confidence by defeating one of his idols, former Chinese world number one Bao Chunlai (191 cm tall), at the Singapore Open.

On January 4th this year, Axelsen celebrated his 30th birthday. He said, “This gives me the confidence to know… I can go further because I realize that many players don’t even get the chance to train, let alone compete.”