Viktor Axelsen still has the intention to achieve more titles and maintain his highest level of performance as long as possible. This aim is likely to be achieved in view of his discipline.
By
I GUSTI AGUNG BAGUS ANGGA PUTRA
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO
Danish badminton player Viktor Axelsen celebrates after defeating Zhao Jun Peng (China) in the final of the East Ventures Indonesia Open 2022 at Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Sunday (19/6/2022). Axelsen won 21-9, 21-10.
Hard work, perseverance and discipline has made Viktor Axelsen a dreaded badminton player. Despite the many prestigious titles he has won, he has not become complacent; he longs to exploit his entire inner potential.
At the age of 28, Viktor Axelsen has earned many titles coveted by shuttlers all over the world. His opponents in the men’s singles event acknowledge the superb feats of Axelsen. Nevertheless, Axelsen is not quick to be satisfied with all his achievements. He is always striving to maintain his highest performance level.
I was very surprised at my level today.
None of the world’s elite badminton players were able to halt the advance of Axelsen at Indonesia Masters, Indonesia Open and Malaysia Open 2022. He won all of the 15 matches in which he participated in the three tournaments. His consistency and physical resilience are the features that place him in the elite of the world’s men’s singles history.
He eliminated his opponents with ease, including Japanese shuttler Kento Momota, in the final of Malaysia Open on Sunday (3/7/2022). Facing the world’s second-ranked Momota, Axelsen seemed to be playing against a beginner. He reduced Momota to helplessness and roundly defeated him in two straight games 4-21, 7-21.
“I was very surprised at my level today -- how I could emerge so much fresher than what I feared. I’ve played many games for the last four weeks. So, to be frank, I’m very tired. But I don’t know how I could manage to find such explosion and energy for my match today,” said Axelsen.
Axelsen’s supremacy prompted Malaysian men’s singles-shuttler Lee Zii Jia to comment that none of men’s singles badminton players were capable of beating him at present.
Axelsen first came to be known when he won a bronze medal at Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016. He was widely debated when he was able to triumph over two-time Olympic badminton champion and defending victor Lin Dan from China.
After earning a bronze in Brazil, Axelsen’s accumulated many more achievements. He emerged as champion in World Championship 2017 and All England 2020. Axelsen reached the apex of his career when he seized the gold medal at Tokyo Olympics Tokyo 2020. In this way, Axelsen became the second European after Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen to be capable of winning the Olympic gold. He broke through in men’s singles, which had always been dominated by Asian top shuttlers.
KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO
Danish badminton player, Viktor Axelsen, kisses his son, Vega Rohde Axelsen, during the awarding of medals and prizes for the East Ventures Indonesia Open 2022 champion at Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Sunday (19/6/2022). Axelsen won the final match against Zhao Jun Peng (China) 21-9, 21-10.
Discipline
Since his teens, Axelsen has practiced self-discipline and strict routines. It began when he got the opportunity to join the national team of Denmark in 2010 at the age of 17. Axelsen left behind the comfort of his hometown -- Odense, Denmark -- to go to Copenhagen. At the time, this national training center was still known for big names such as Peter Gade and Jan Ø Jørgensen.
There, Axelsen felt very insignificant. He deemed his performance far below the level of the Danish legends. Competing with Gade made Axelsen feel that he had yet to improve many things. “I thought I had to work harder than the others in order to achieve my goals,” he said.
Since then, Axelsen has been stringent with himself. Unlike other Danish teenagers, who often frequent nighttime entertainment spots, Axelsen avoided such amusements. He spent his teenage years in an effort to achieve the badminton targets he had set. Olympic gold medals were his juvenile dreams.
One thing that once disturbed Axelsen was his body height, soaring up to 1.94 meters. Rarely have there been tall badminton players capable of consistently earning top-level achievements thus far. Badminton requires agility, as the defining aspect of prime performance in its athletes. Tall shuttlers are seldom endowed with agility.
The myth shadowed his teenage years. “Not many players of my body height ever achieved their top rank. I thought my height posed an impediment to the realization of my dreams,” he said.
He thus practiced more strictly to achieve the highest performance quality. He has reaped the outcome over the last few years. The body height that at first was troublesome has become Axelsen’s main strength.
At the age of 15-16, Axelsen was being trained by the Chinese coach, Zhang Lian Ying. Although Zhang is a fairly fluent Danish speaker, Axelsen’s Mandarin speech enables him and Zhang to convey everything better. “In this way, I can learn a lot more from Zhang,” he said.
Axelsen is well aware that the key to brilliant performance is the method of maintaining focus during a match. Therefore, until the game is finished, he will not let matters other than badminton disturb him.
In the course of Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open, for instance, Axelsen was never willing to give lengthy media interviews. He limited the numbers of questions and journalists so as not to disturb his focus on competition.
During his two-week stay in Jakarta, Axelsen spent his time mostly in his hotel room and the game arena. Once in a while he took some time to play with his little daughter, Vega Rohde Axelsen.
His success in winning his first Malaysia Open title does not seem to satisfy Axelsen. He still has the intention to achieve more titles and maintain his highest level of performance as long as possible. This aim is likely to be achieved in view of his discipline, which is superior to that of other badminton athletes.
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