PETALING JAYA: In order to be the best, you must learn from the best.
Recently-crowned Olympics champion Viktor Axelsen paid tribute to some of his greatest opponents for their role in turning him into the player he is today.
And the 27-year-old Dane picked three greats Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and Chen Long, the man he dethroned to win the gold at the Tokyo Games.
“I have really learned a lot from playing against the likes of Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan in the past,” Axelsen, who speaks fluent Mandarin, told his fans on the Chinese social media platform Douyin.“It helped me to swiftly identify my weaknesses and areas that I need to improve, so I was able to continuously make progress.
“So I really want to thank Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, Chen Long and also the rest of my opponents because it’s through my previous battle with each of them that helped me become a better player,” added the 2017 world champion.
Chong Wei, in particular, was one rival Axelsen found to be a tough nut to crack as he only managed three wins in 14 meetings against the Malaysian from 2011-2018.
It took Axelsen, who is 11 years younger than Chong Wei, seven matches before he finally stole a game from him in the 21-12, 17-21, 14-21 last-16 defeat at the 2015 French Open.
Axelsen secured his breakthrough win over Chong Wei in their 10th meeting when clinched a 14-21, 21-14, 21-19 win in the group stage of the 2016 Superseries Finals.The win inspired him to emerge as the winner in the season-ending event.
He also has a poor head-to-head record against Chen Long. with the latter coming out tops on 14 occasions in their 20 clashes.
Axelsen, however, fared better against two-time Olympics champion Lin Dan, winning six out of their nine duels.
His most memorable victories over Super Dan was denying the latter his sixth world title in the 2017 final in Glasgow and the playoff for Rio 2016 bronze.
