Denmark's Anders Antonsen.
PETALING JAYA: In Malaysia, Lee Zii Jia has dropped his coach. In Denmark, it’s learnt that Anders Antonsen has hired a new one.
In a recent report on sport.tv2.dk, it’s stated that world No. 10 Antonsen is set to follow the same path as compatriot Viktor Axelsen by moving his base to Dubai and will train under former international Joachim Persson for the new season.
The 25-year-old Antonsen, who was once ranked second in the world, has suffered a drop in form, mainly due to injury.
Although Antonsen has not come out in public to make the announcement, Persson was reported as saying: “Out of respect for Anders, I will only answer questions that relate to news that Anders himself has announced.”
Antonsen and Axelsen, however, will not train together but at separate places in Dubai. While more players move out to train on their own, Antonsen’s choice of his own coach did raise eyebrows.
After all, former Danish singles player Persson was banned for 18 months by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) after a year-long match-fixing investigation in 2016. Although he was not convicted outright for match-fixing, he had to stay away from the sport before making a return in September 2020.
As for Antonsen, he will have to return to the national team under Kenneth Jonassen if called to represent the country in the European Championships, World Cham-pionships and team events.
Earlier, Zii Jia announced that he would part ways with Indra Wijaya but no reasons were given on their separation.
