Axelsen welcomes Zii Jia to join him in Dubai

Lee Zii Jia would be more than welcomed to join Viktor Axelsen's training base in Dubai when the time is right, adding the Malaysian had more pressing issues to figure out his stand-off situation with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).

The national body on Friday announced they would not enter Lee and Goh Jin Wei for any tournaments under the Badminton World Federation (BWF) calendar, after both shuttlers decided to go their own paths.

In an exclusive interview with Astro Arena, Axelsen said he’d been following their developments with interest, and that the door for Lee to Dubai would be open.

5 of the last 7 men's singles titles in the #BWFWorldTour - 6 out of 8 if we include the BWF World Championships - have been won by Axelsen's Dubai camp group. The other 2 were by Japan's Momota and Tsuneyama. pic.twitter.com/x3dIo7LiSP

— Lee Seng Foo??李成富 (@sengfoo88) January 16, 2022

“Zii Jia is definitely welcomed here. I am heartbroken to see the news with Zii Jia and Jin Wei, and I’m crossing my fingers there is a way around this.

“But I don’t want to talk too much about this [Lee training with him in Dubai] as there are more important things right now. They have to take their time and figure things out first,” he said.

When asked if the two-year non-participation would kill their careers, Axelsen said: “I don’t think it would. When they reach these levels and put all their heart into the sport, I know they will keep fighting.

“Myself and Lee are on-court rivals, but also strong competitors and that is what lights the fire in us as players. We want to compete against the best. As a rival, I cross my fingers that the best in the world will be able to compete.”

Axelsen also weighed in on players going independent, saying shuttlers who want to breakaway from their national associations must be world or Olympic champions in order to “to have the power to breakaway”.

“It’s not unfair for the player to have their own say. Why shouldn’t you? You only have a limited time as an athlete. If we want the sport to be even more popular or bigger, we have to go out and sell ourselves and promote the sport.

“We are worth way more than what we’re getting paid right now when it comes to the financial side of the sport. I think the national federations and shuttlers can find a way to co-exist, it doesn’t have to come to this [Lee-BAM situation].”

As for Axelsen’s case, the world number one has a unique agreement with the Badminton Denmark where he still gets to train at their national centre when he goes back.