Danish star puts Chinese language skills to good use
DENMARK’S badminton star Viktor Axelsen is certainly putting his Chinese language skills to good use.
The lanky Axelsen came to Tai Tzu-ying’s rescue by taking up the role as a translator during an interview after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) unveiled the trophy for the World Tour Finals at the Royal Selangor visitors’ centre in Setapak yesterday.
The Finals will be held in Guangzhou, China, from Dec 12-16 for the first time. It has been held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the last four years.
The men and women world No. 1s Axelsen and Tzu-ying attended the ceremony yesterday and both have set their sights on the trophy, crafted by renowned national pewter maker Royal Selangor with the unique design inspired by Canton Tower in Guangzhou.
“It’s such a beautiful trophy. I’m motivated now to own it by winning the Finals this year,” said Tzuying through her translator Axelsen.
The 24-year-old Axelsen chipped in: “We joked about Dubai’s trophy (made of glass) which broke twice. This new trophy definitely looks better and hopefully it won’t break.”
Banter aside, Axelsen and Tzu-ying are aiming to qualify for the Finals as top qualifiers in their respective events.
Only the top eight singles and doubles players from all five disciplines will qualify for the Finals based on total ranking points garnered during the Tour.
Axelsen and Tzu-ying have vowed to strengthen their claims for the Finals by excelling at this week’s Malaysian Open.
Axelsen won the Finals in Dubai in 2016 and 2017 while Tzu-ying also bagged the title twice in 2014 and 2016.
The restructured BWF tournament this year comprises 28 events which are divided into five different tiers – World Tour Finals, Super 1000 (three tournaments), Super 750 (five tournaments), Super 500 (seven tournaments) and Super 300 (11 tournaments).