Twelve months ago Musabbeh Al Mheiri reached a significant personal milestone of saddling 500 winners
Viktor Axelsen, the newly-crowned Olympic men’s badminton champion, will be in Dubai next week to celebrate his success at the Tokyo Games.
On Monday, Denmark’s Axelsen became the first non-Asian man to win the Olympic badminton singles title since 1996 when he defeated Chinese defending champion Chen Long 21-15, 21-12.
The Dane, 27, follows in the footsteps of compatriot Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, the current president of Badminton World Federation, who was the last Olympic men’s badminton champion from Denmark, defeating China’s Dong Jiong 15-12, 15-10 for gold at the Atlanta Games.
At the last Olympic Games in Rio, Axelsen had to be content with bronze, losing to Chen in the semifinals, and he said the experience had made him “really hungry to do even better” in Tokyo.
It was an emotional win for the world No 2, who was still sobbing when he left the court, but he is now looking forward to returning to Dubai.
Axelsen was for preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games in Dubai, spending two years here training for the Olympics.
The Danish star made the announcement in a note of thanks he sent to Dubai Sports Council following his win. He shared photos of him with his gold medal and thanked Dubai for the role it had played in his success.
The 2017 world champion had been training in Dubai since 2019 along with his Danish teammates for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Axelsen has praised Dubai’s leadership for their generous support of the sports sector and as well as the sports infrastructure they have built in Dubai. He also visited Dubai Sports Council and thanked the Council for all their support.
“I really enjoy training here in Dubai, in nice warm weather,” said Axelsen, who trained at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex and Hamdan Sports Complex. “The sports facilities in Dubai are top class and they really encourage and motivate athletes to train at their peak.”
The Denmark national badminton team was one of the 50 teams that were training in Dubai to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics.
The UAE, with its exceptional sports facilities, is the preferred destination of international teams as they prepare for major international championships.
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