Viktor Axelsen is now a very hard badminton player to beat. Two men’s singles legends, Taufik Hidayat and Lee Chong Wei, also highlighted how difficult it was for other players to beat Axelsen. Viktor Axelsen became one of the topics discussed by Taufik Hidayat and Lee Chong Wei when the two legends chatted live on TikTok on Wednesday (22/6/2022) evening.
Currently, Viktor Axelsen is indeed very dominant in the men’s singles category. Most recently, Axelsen won the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open 2022 titles which were held last week at Istora Senayan, Jakarta. The Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open 2022 titles further emphasize Axelsen’s dominance in the men’s singles sector.
Since the defeat to his compatriot, Anders Antonsen, in the 2020 World Tour Finals final, Axelsen has been able to enter the final of the BWF World Tour tournament eight times with seven of them winning the title. This year, Axelsen, who is also a gold medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He has won three titles, namely the All England Open, Indonesia Masters, and Indonesia Open.
A number of top players such as Kento Momota, Loh Kean Yew, and Chou Tien-chen were unable to stem Axelsen. So, how to beat Viktor Axelsen? “Maybe Datuk (Lee Chong Wei) has to play again, then he can lose,” said Taufik Hidayat when answering a question from a netizen about how to beat Axelsen. However, Taufik’s answer was of course just a joke.
Taufik then added that one of the advantages of Viktor Axelsen is his tall posture and long legs. With the advantage of footsteps, Axelsen, who is 194 cm tall, will have an easier time controlling the field. This is what makes him so hard to beat.
“I think Axelsen has a tall body and he has a very sharp smash,” said Taufik. “Yesterday I saw Axelsen with (Anthony) Ginting. In the first game Ginting lost. In the second game, Ginting had to play fast with Axelsen. Because, by taking one step against Axelsen, the other person had to take two. So, he had to have extra power,” added Taufik. .
According to Taufik, playing fast with extra training can give a player a chance to beat Viktor Axelsen. “You need extra training, you can only beat Axelsen. Because if you only play one game at a time, I think it’s hard to beat him,” said Taufik.
Lee Chong Wei, who at that time was part of the Fantastic Four in the world’s men’s singles with Lin Dan, Peter Gade, and Taufik Hidayat, seemed to agree with the statement of the 2004 Athens Olympic gold medal winner. Lee Chong Wei added, the key to Viktor Axelsen’s current dominance is consistency plus the strength of his legs, which are now more stable.
“Now he (Axelsen) looks more consistent, he has more quality ball, and now his legs are more stable,” said the former Malaysian mainstay in men’s singles. In addition to technique, Lee Chong Wei also highlighted Axelsen’s composure and patience factors that made him hard to beat.
“I see him now being more patient. As Taufik said, he (Axelsen) won a step. He took one step, while we took two steps, because his legs are long,” said Lee Chong Wei, who has played against Axelsen several times in his career.
One more thing that Lee Chong Wei highlights from Viktor Axelsen is his confidence. According to Lee Chong Wei, Axelsen looks very confident facing every tournament after he won the Olympic gold medal. “After he won the Olympics, I think he is more confident,” said Lee Chong Wei, praising Viktor Axelsen’s level of confidence.
