The Danish champ, former world number 1 and reigning All England Champion Viktor Axelsen in an exclusive interview recently spoke to Digvijay Singh Deo, Sports Editor, WION.
The lockdown has been especially difficult for athletes as they haven’t been able to practice on court. They have been unable to follow their usual routines and changed their training strategies to keep up their physical fitness and avoid muscle wastage.
“We’ve been fortunate here in Denmark that the situation has improved considerably, so we have been able to return to practice. We haven’t been able to start full-time training, but we are able to practice on the court for one and a half hours per day. We aren’t back to full throttle yet and only a limited number of players are back. It’s definitely better than nothing and I’m really delighted to be back on the court again,” said Viktor.
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He also mentioned about feeling rusty being back on court after a long time and taking things slow in order to avoid injuries. For him, the priority is getting back into shape injury free and to channelize his energy into preparing for Tokyo Olympics.
“I haven’t really made any concrete plans for my Olympic preparation yet because I’m not sure about the calendar and which events I will play in 2021. The BWF has released the qualifying regulations, so now I will sit down with my coach and decide which tournaments I will play and plan my travel accordingly”, he said.
He finds the BWF’s calendar to be ambitious, scheduling 22 tournaments in just 5 months. He feels players must be cautious as the risk of injuries will be high. He hopes that players plan the tournaments carefully as playing too many tournaments back to back are tough on the body. With Olympics approaching in a year, players cannot afford to have injuries.
“It is going to be very tough for the players. In this situation, there are no right or wrong answers. I realise that the shutdown has a lot of financial implications for the BWF and they need to get the money pumping in again. I just hope there are rules in place so that players are not pushed to play all tournaments. The athletes’ health should be the priority, if players play 10 tournaments in 12 weeks then their health will be put in danger. So it is really important that the players are protected in this situation.”
Talking about the possibility of tournaments to be conducted under closed door the Danish great said “It’s going to be a completely different experience. I haven’t played a tournament without fans in a very long time. It might feel a bit like a practice session. The fans create an atmosphere which is really special. It is going to be disappointing to play without spectators but it’s better than not playing at all.”
Link to the full interview
It’ll be a delight to watch Viktor