Viktor Axelsen won this year’s All England title in March, just before the pandemic-driven lockdowns stalled on-court action. Obviously, he had neither the time nor the opportunity to celebrate the triumph the way he wanted.
Really special
“It doesn’t take anything away from my victory. It’s really special to have the All England triumph on my CV,” comes the response from the former World champion and World No. 1.
Unlike Indian players, this lanky Dane is back on court to prepare for the events announced for the year.
On his return to the court after the forced lay-off, Axelsen told news channel WION, “I’m really delighted to be back on the court. We are fortunate in Denmark that the situation improved considerably, so we returned to practice.
“We’re not back to full throttle yet and only a limited number of players are back. It’s definitely better than nothing.”
Profitable year
The 2017 World champion and the top-ranked player that year, is currently ranked fourth. Back from an injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist did well this year, winning two titles from three finals.
Talking about the packed BWF Calendar and how he planned to play, Axelsen said, “It’s is an extremely ambitious plan, 22 tournaments have been planned in such a short span of time. Players will have to be very cautious since the risk of injury will be high.
“I hope players put a lot of thought before planning their schedule, because playing too many back-to-back tournaments is really tough on the body. I don’t know what the right thing to do is, but I have to be very careful.”
Axelsen did not see it possible for the players to undergo two weeks of quarantine upon arrival for tournaments.
Restrictions
“Hopefully, by September, some of the international travel restrictions will be relaxed. If that isn’t the case then it’s going to be very difficult for players to travel for events all over the world.
“We have to wait and see what happens, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed,” he said.
