In November, Axelsen withdrew from two tournaments in Japan and Australia, and now the Danish badminton star has also canceled his participation in the Super 1000 tournament Malaysia Open in four weeks, which is the first tournament of the new year. At the same time, he has also withdrawn from the India Open the following week.
Its devastating news for Axelsen and his many fans, after the two-time Olympic champions made a comeback in early September after six months of absence. A month later, he even impressed by reaching the semi-finals of the Denmark Open.
But now the back problems seems to have returned. In his podcast 'The Average Not Average Podcast', Viktor Axelsen talks in detail about the back problems in the latest edition. An episode that was recorded about a month ago, but which was only released in December.
In the podcast he says that he was forced to withdraw from the tournaments in November (Japan and Australia) as he is unable to train at the moment.
"Since I played in the Denmark Open and the French Open, I have been struggling quite a bit with severe nerve pain in my left buttock, so it is of course not very good."
"I have had an MRI scan and am awaiting answers from the doctors about how the situation is. So I am keeping my fingers crossed, and hopefully it is not too bad", Axelsen said back in November.
But now the worst fears seem to have been confirmed.
"It's a bit frustrating, now when I seemed to be appraching my previous form, but that's just how life is for me right now, I think. It's a bit of a hard pill to swallow that I can't at least end the year on a slightly more positive note. But I'm keeping my head high. That's the only thing I can do at the moment, adds Viktor Axelsen in the podcast.
"I just want to get back into training, man… I just want to get back and work really hard on the court. Get in the zone and get a lot of good hours on the court. But my body just hasn't allowed me to do that for the last eight months. To be honest, it's pretty frustrating right now. But that nerve pain is just… I can't say the word here. It's just… it's just hard for me", says Viktor Axelsen.