Viktor Axelsen: An Axel-lent success story from Denmark

“This is something I have dreamed about since I was a little boy,” Viktor Axelsen was quoted as saying shortly after winning the men’s singles title at the BWF World Championships in Glasgow.

The 23-year-old was visibly emotional, and he had every reason to be. He had taken out two-time defending title holder and reigning Olympic champion Chen Long in the semi-finals and five-time world champion Lin Dan in the final, both in straight games.

It was no mean feat. It fulfilled the expectations that were accrued to Axelsen when he became the first European to be crowned the World Junior Champion in 2010.

It marked a culmination of a glorious chapter in Axelsen’s fledgeling career, a journey that began 16 months back?—?when the young Dane bested compatriot and defending champion Jan O. Jorgensen to win the European Championships in France.

A few weeks later Axelsen would go on to help Denmark achieve something it had never done before - win the prestigious Thomas Cup men’s team tournament, in what was their ninth appearance in the final, Axelsen winning five of his six singles matches?—?including the one in the final against Indonesia (Tommy Sugiarto).

A bronze medal at the Rio Olympics followed, at the expense of former champion Lin Dan.

Then came the gold at the year-ending BWF World Super Series Finals.

And now the world title.

Axelsen’s recent success is not just personal but a triumph for Danish badminton as a whole - a revival of sorts.

In a sport dominated by the likes of China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan, Denmark represents a classic case of David taking on Goliath(s).

A country of roughly six million people, Denmark has over the last eight decades punched above its weight and challenged the might of these Asian powerhouses. It has been to badminton what Sweden was to table tennis in the 1980s and 1990s?—?the lone challenger from Europe.

While on the one hand the tiny Scandinavian country has produced all-time greats like Erland Kops, Flemming Delfs, Svend Pri, Morten Frost, Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, Peter Rasmussen, Peter Gade, Lene Koppen, Camilla Martin and Tine Baun, on the other it also has had a set of initially promising?—?but eventually under-performing talents like Ib Frederiksen, Kirsten Larsen, Pernille Nedergaard, Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, Kenneth Jonassen, Jorgensen and Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.

However, their few successes notwithstanding there has been more heart breaks for Danish players and fans alike as regards big ticket international events.

When it comes to the sport’s flagship competitions like the Olympics, World Championships, Super Series Finals and the Thomas/Uber/Sudirman Cups, Denmark and disappointment have gone hand in hand, the nation more often than not flattering to deceive.

As mentioned above, Denmark has won the Thomas Cup just once (in nine final appearances). It is yet to win either the Uber Cup or the Sudirman Cup.

Hoyer Larsen’s gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 remains Denmark’s solitary success at the quadrennial games. Likewise, Axelsen’s triumph happened to be their first gold at the Super Series Finals.

And in besting Lin Dan, Axelsen became only the third Danish man?—?after Delfs (1977) and Rasmussen (1997)?—?to win the world title, Koppen (1977) and Martin (1999) being the only two women to have achieved the feat.

“I think we have been very unlucky on many occasions. Danish players have come close to the world titles many a time only to miss out in the final hurdle,” Frost, arguably the world’s greatest badminton player who never became a world champion, once told yours truly.

The luck factor apart, it is also a fact that Denmark, rather Danish players, have failed to capitalize on the opportunities they worked so hard to create in the first place.

Frost, for instance, initially had Delfs and Pri for company and later on played with Frederiksen and the world champion doubles pairing of Jesper Helledie and Steen Fladberg. Yet he could never help Denmark win the Thomas Cup.

Denmark finally landed the much coveted Thomas Cup in 2016

Likewise, neither the combined strength of Hoyer Larsen, Stuer-Lauridsen and Rasmussen (1996) nor the coming together of Gade, Rasmussen, Jonassen and (2004 and 2006) took the Nordic nation to the coveted title.

What eventually did help Denmark win the elusive title was a team comprising of Axelsen, Jorgensen and Vittinghus, playing to their strengths and ensuring full three points in the singles.

Axelsen happens to be the only one of that trio who has built on that success.

Be it the bronze at Rio, the Super Series Finals win in Dubai or the follow up to Rasmussen’s triumph of 1997 (coincidentally in Glasgow), Axelsen, only 23 years of age, has proved his mettle over and over again while simultaneously displaying the mental fortitude that is the hallmark of any great player.

For those into numbers, or are superstitious to a certain extent, one look will suggest that it takes 20 years for a Dane to be crowned the men’s singles world champion.

With Axelsen, and the promising Anders Antonsen around, here’s hoping it doesn’t take another two decades before a new chapter is added to the Danish badminton narrative.