NO ORDER TOO TALL FOR AXELSEN

Once bothered by his height, world No. Dane is undisputed giant in his sport

- David Lee

When he was 16, Viktor Axelsen did not just grab attention for becoming the first European to win the world junior badminton championships boys' singles title, but also stood out for being a head above most players.

But, before the still-growing teenager went on to upset the sport's world order, he was also disturbed by his stature.

The Danish world No. 1 recounted: "I was told if I got too tall I would be unsuitable to play men's singles, and I felt enormous pressure." When he was 17 and applied for a new passport, he was crestfallen when told he was 1.9m.

Axelsen said: "This was taller than almost all the top men's singles players. I was so disappointed, I didn't want to be so tall because I didn't want to not be able to play men's singles.

"When things weren't going my way in training or tournaments, negativity grew inside me and I sometimes blamed it on my body type.

"I thought being lighter would help my game. But I got so thin, I had absolutely no energy after my practices and my performance suffered." Instead, Axelsen, who is now 1.94m, changed his mindset, refusing to be limited by what many felt was a shortcoming and rose to become one of the best players.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, he shared how he had a soft spot for the Republic as he recorded his "first really good result" at the 2011 Singapore Open where he beat China's Bao Chunlai, the 1.91m former world No. 1 and someone he admired.

Axelsen, who turned 30 on Jan 4, said: "That gave me the confidence to know that... I could go far because I realised many players don't have the opportunity to play and train that much against a player like me.