Fresh from being blessed with a new addition to his family, Viktor Axelsen will be favourites to defend his Denmark Open title, which begins next week in Odense.

The world champion welcomed the arrival of his daughter Aya Rohde Axelsen last week, with the world number one all smiles as he shared a picture of him and his newborn.

A post shared by Viktor Axelsen 安赛龙 (@viktoraxelsen)

The Dane would no doubt be euphoric with the expansion of his family, but he would also be back on court sharpening his tools as the top-tier events are set to resume in full swing just days away.

Chou Tien-chen, who was in the country last week to take part in the Malaysia Purple League, admitted Axelsen has a big target on his back each time he competes.

“Everyone is trying to beat him, as he is the best player now. That automatically encourages the rest to try and beat him. We have to work harder to do so. But it will be a challenge, as he will improve too,” Chou told Stadium Astro.

Axelsen begins his Denmark Open title defence against Kunvalut Vitidsarn, the rising Thai stalwart he took down to win the World Championships back in August.

The world number one looks to have a challenging draw on paper too, with the likes of Loh Kean Yew and Lee Zii Jia potentially in his way to the final.

With six titles already this season, Axelsen willhave an incredibly busy end to the year if he intends to match Kento Momota’s record haul of 11 titles in a single season in 2019.

Even if he doesn’t get to 11, Axelsen’s feat as of now itself speaks volumes after victories at the All-England, Indonesia Masters, Indonesia Open and Malaysia Open, in addition to his world and European crowns.

World number four Chou is slated to face Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen in his Denmark Open opener.

Meanwhile, Chen Long’s reign as an elite shuttler looks to have come to an end after the Badminton World Federation removed his name from their rankings list despite no official confirmation from his camp yet.

The Chinese last international appearance came at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, where he won silver after losing in the final to Axelsen.