Danish men’s singles Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus is happy to be back on the BWF tour after a long block of training since November 2017. Earlier on wednesday, he celebrated his return with a victory in straight sets.
The last time Vittinghus was on court playing a BWF tournament was China Open in November 2017, but January 17th was the day where he returned to the tour, now named HSBC BWF Tour.
The Dane defeated Wong Wing Ki Vincent; 21-11, 21-14, and found himself having to search for things to complain about after succeeding from the 1st round.
- I'm very pleased with my performance today. I controlled the strong drift pretty well on both sides of the court, moved fast and made very few mistakes, so I can't really find many things to complain about!, Vittinghus said to Badminton Europe.
Looking forward to a close fight
In the second round Vittinghus’ opponent will be 8th seeded Wang Tzu Wei from Chinese Taipei, and the Dane predicts a close fight.
- Tomorrow will be an extremely difficult match. Tzu Wei Wang is a tricky player who's especially hard to beat in arenas like this one, where the drift is quite strong.
- But I know I have the tools to make life difficult for him as well, so I'm also looking forward to a close fight, where we will probably both get our chances to win, he explained.
Hungry for more in 2018
Competing is the best part of his job as a professional badminton player and in 2018 Vittinghus is looking forward to defending the Thomas Cup title.
- My biggest goal for 2018 is to help Denmark defend the Thomas Cup title in Bangkok come May. It was such a special feeling winning two years ago, but we are all very hungry for more, so why not go for it again? The competition is fierce, but I know we are capable of winning if we can make things work for us.
Other European men’s singles that are through for round 2 in Malaysia are, one of Vittinghus’ team mates, Anders Antonsen from Denmark and Brice Leverdez from France. Viktor Axelsen and Rasmus Gemke, both of Denmark, have not been on court yet, but their fate in the Super 500 event will be determined later Wednesday.