Axelsen wants to kickstart year with Malaysian Masters defence.

FORMER world champion Viktor Axelsen (pic) is hoping to use the Perodua Malaysian Masters to put his career back on track following a forgettable 2018.

The 25-year-old’s performance took a nosedive due to a nagging ankle injury, which he first suffered in February.

If it was not bad enough, he also had to deal with his asthma problem.

The Dane had lost his world No. 1 status last September and could not make up ground after his ankle injury flared up during the Denmark Open in October.

It was then only he decided to put his racquet aside for the rest of the season to recover.

Rejuvenated after taking two months off, Axelsen can’t wait to get cracking again by attempting to defend his men’s singles crown in the Malaysian Masters, which begins today at the Axiata Arena.

“I went through a rough patch last year, but it’s over now. I have to put 2018 behind me and look forward to 2019,” said Axelsen yesterday.

“My training had gone really well in the last eight or nine weeks and playing in the Indian league recently was a great opportunity to return into the tournament mood.

“I’m slowly getting back into it and hopefully I’ll be able to perform well in tournaments. I’m confident this season will be better than the last.”

Axelsen can expect a tough time in his title defence as he’s drawn in the same quarter with four Japanese including nemesis Kento Momota, the reigning world champion and world No. 1.

He faces world No. 32 Kazumasa Sakai in the first round and standing in his way in the second round will be either compatriot HansKristian Vittinghus or world No. 17 Kanta Tsuneyama.

Axelsen and Momota could clash in the last eight. Axelsen has only beaten Momota twice in their 11 meetings, but not in the eight most recent matches.

Momota is also having a tough first round encounter against compatriot Kenta Nishimoto, the man Axelsen beat in last year’s final.

“I was joking to my teammates about the draw. It’s as if I’m taking part in the AllJapanese championship,” said Axelsen.

“The first round against Sakai would be a tough one, so I’m going to take it one match at a time. If I play really well, then I might have a chance.”

It’s obvious Axelsen takes the Malaysian Masters seriously.

After completing his Indian Premier League stint with his club Ahmedabad Smash Masters last week, he wasted no time flying to Kuala Lumpur to prepare for the tournament by joining the training sessions at the Sports Affairs Academy under the tutelage of former international Rashid Sidek.

“It’s awesome to be welcomed by Sports Affairs. Everyone got involved ... (Liew) Daren, my teammate at Ahmedabad and Iskandar (Zulkarnain Zainuddin) also joined the practice as well. I really enjoyed it,” he said.