This article was posted long before I even realize that there is a badminton player named Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (February 2008). I barely become his fans, after watching his game against Lee Chong Wei at All England 2012. Like any other fans that wants to know about history of their favorite player, I goggled and found this article. I want to share it, because to me, it’s very inspirational. Enjoy reading :)
As the Thomas Cup Qualifying stage kicks off in Almere, Netherlands, Denmark has set its hopes on a new comer and asked Hans Kristian Vitinghus to join the squad. Badzine’s correspondent Mark Phelan took a closer look at this strong minded player, who has just come back from a bad injury.
Most of us, in our lifetime, experience injury or pain. We have all had to deal with the frustration of not been able to perform or play the sport we love for extended periods due to injury. But not many of us have had the highs of winning your first international event and then being diagnosed with a tumour of the knee all in a twelve month period. Hans-Kristian Vittinghus has experience all these emotions and for this young man from Denmark it has been a truly trying time
Badminton- “For the hell of it”
HK as he is known, like most Danes, has been playing badminton since the tender age of 5. He recalls a flyer being posted through the door of his family home advertising badminton for Under 10’s. HK’s sisters wanted to go and like most laid back youngsters HK went along just for the hell of it. A badminton addiction developed and HK played his first team match when he was just 6 years old.
HK Stayed with his club Solrod Strand BC up until the age of 18 where he won many different national titles and tournaments. Most notable were the U13 nationals in Men’s doubles and the 2 gold’s he won at the U17 Nationals in Men’s doubles and singles. Internationally HK was part of the winning Danish U15 eight nation’s tournament and twice won the U17 six nations as part of the Danish youth set up.
In August 2004 HK left Solrod to join Herlev/Hjorten BC for whom he won the U19 Men’s singles national title. HK’s decision to move to Herlev/Hjorten was a difficult one to make as he had grown up playing for Solrod and those ties were strong. But the lure of Herlev/Hjorten was just to strong as they had former top Danish players Jon Holst-Christensen (former All England Champion) and Thomas Stavngaard (former Danish Open Champion) as their coaches and indeed his new club could help him financially in his badminton career. His new club were also competing in the 2nd division of the Danish league which would help HK improve his game as he was playing against stronger opponents.
The Big Move and Kenneth Jonassen
2006 proved to be a pivotal year in the career of HK Vittinghus. Out of the blue the young Dane secured his first EBU tournament title by winner the Norwegian Open. HK had been playing on the European tour for almost two years without ever getting by the second round then all of a sudden with wins over Odum, and another Dane Kasper Ipsen saw HK book his place in the final where he was to play world number 18 Muhammad Roslin Hashim. The Malaysian was clear favourite to take the title given that the young Danes world ranking was a lowly 137 at the time. Vittinghus defied the odds that day and beat Hashim in three sets 22-20 6-21 21-16. After a series of good results in the spring of 2007 HK received an unexpected call from one of Denmark’s all time greats, Kenneth Jonassen, the current worlds number 8 Men’s singles player. Kenneth acting on behalf of Greve BC made HK an offer he could not refuse to go and join their club. HK took up his position at Greve as second men’s singles directly behind the great Jonassen. The following weeks and months HK continued his good form and in September 2007 he took his second international title by winning the Turkiye International Open. That win and his consistent performances throughout 2007 propelled HK inside the world’s top 50. The world was now at his feet and he looked to be finally fulfilling his potential after many years trying.
he Bombshell
Life can be cruel sometimes and it was particularly cruel to HK Vitinghus as straight after his win in Turkey a large swelling immediately appeared on his knee which had him confined to crutches immediately after the game and he recalls that it was a struggle just to make the plane to get his flight home. He had experienced some pain in his knee for two years previous but always put it down to just ‘one of those things’ and never really paid much attention to it as it always seemed to sort itself out. On his arrival back in Denmark HK immediately went to see his Doctor and a Physiotherapist who found something strange in the knee joint and scheduled him for an MRI scan. As the problem was only occasional and the MRI scan was not for a few weeks HK decided to go to play The Bitburger Open in October 2007. Things really took a turn for the worst when after a third round defeat to Lee Tsuen Seng the problematic knee completely gave up and swelled to gigantic proportions. HK returned to Denmark immediately and went for the scheduled MRI scan where they found a PVNS tumour. Needless to say the young Vittinghus was knocked back by this news as were all around him. This type of tumour is very rare and grows extremely slowly so the likelihood is that the young Dane had it for years. Surgery was scheduled immediately and on 12th November 2007 the tumour was removed. At that point the tumour had grown so large that HK now has a 16cm scare to prove its very existence.
The Rehabilitation
After the Surgery HK was immobile for a week but slowly started to regain movement in the joint. Slowly but surely the determined Vittinghus started to gain confidence and light exercises followed which in turn allowed him to start applying weight to the leg once more. The following two months involved nothing but balance and strength exercises as the muscle around the knee had completed wasted in week after surgery. HK finally got the green light to start some light court training over Christmas 2007. The New Year has seen his knee continue to strengthen and the advice coming from his Doctor was encouraging. Shortly Vittinghus would be able commence court training and even contemplate a competitive return sometime in the spring of 2008. It was on Monday the 14th January 2008 that Vittinghus received the news he had been so anxiously waiting for, under advice from his doctor he was given the all clear to once again take to the court and start to rebuild his career.
Back On Tour
Like any sportsperson who cannot compete or train as they wish the past few months have been extremely frustrating for Vittinghus. As he points out it has been so hard join a new successful club and only have played two games for them. It has been so hard watch them go from strength to strength and be top of the league and not being there to help. But through it all HK has remained buoyant and optimistic. Although his world ranking has plummeted from 47 back down to 110 and probably down to circa 125 before his return, ultimately it is that competitive return that he is focused on. The young Dane had set his sights at returning for the Austrian International in February using a few club matches in the weeks before to sharpen his reactions and get him match fit. The Danish Badminton Federation had other plans as unawares to himself they had been monitoring his progress and recovery and on 28th January 2007 Vittinghus received a phone call from national head coach, Steen S Pedersen, to break the unexpected news that he has been selected to represent Denmark in the Thomas Cup a week earlier in February. If HK plays for his country in Holland it will be a dream come true as it will be his first international senior cap and something that he had dreamed about since a boy playing for Solrod Strand. Long term the young Dane is looking to The London Olympics in 2012. “The London Games is what I dream about. I don’t play to get inside the top 5 or something like that, I play to win the big titles as that is what I dream of and that’s why im putting all this work in now. Some might say it’s unrealistic, but I really don’t care. As long as I believe its possible I will do whatever I can do to achieve this. It is without doubt a huge challenge, but that’s exactly what makes it interesting” said the Dane
[taken from http://www.badzine.net/features/players-profile-hans-kristian-vittinghus/846/ ]
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