Top 5 men’s singles badminton players of 2016

#2 Viktor Axelsen (Denmark)

The highly-talented Viktor Axelsen came into his own in 2016, putting together the most consistent as well as the most memorable season of his young career. The 22-year-old, touted as a future world champion for a long time, finally broke his Superseries duck after six earlier failures by winning the biggest of them all – the Dubai World Superseries Finals.

The mighty accomplishment that pushed him up to a career-high No. 3, was not his only highlight of the past season. At the Rio Olympics, the former junior world champion toppled the defending champion Lin Dan in the bronze-medal match after coming back from a game down to clinch the bronze.

The lanky Dane also conquered the European Championships, beating his senior compatriot Jan O Jorgensen, establishing himself as one of the very best the continent has ever produced.

About the author

Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.

Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.

Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.

Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.

When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.

Know More

Edited by Staff Editor