KUALA LUMPUR: If time permits, Danish badminton star Anders Antonsen will be more than happy to meet and spend time with his friend and world No. 10 Lee Zii Jia here in Malaysia.
Antonsen has chosen Kuala Lumpur as his training base for the next few weeks before flying off to Hangzhou, China, for the season-ending World Tour Finals on Dec 13-17.
The world No. 11 Dane, who made a superb comeback to topflight badminton after a rough, injury-plagued season last year, is currently training at Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
"Sure, if he (Zii Jia) has the time. He must be busy practising as well, but we are in contact.
"He has been helping me out with all sorts of stuff, so that's good. I've been in KL a bunch of times now, and I know some good cafes and coffee spots that I will visit again.
"I also intend to try something new and explore the city while I'm here.
"However, I will be quite busy with practice. It's not really a holiday, but I'm looking forward to spending some time in KL since I'm here."
Antonsen, who bagged the Korea Open title in July, admitted that coming to KL was a last-minute decision, as the initial plan was to fly directly to Melbourne for a training stint before the start of the 2024 season. The Dane also pointed out that he dislikes being in Denmark during the winter.
"It was a tight and close race to the World Tour Finals. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do or where I wanted to be. In fact, I didn't know if I was going to qualify.
"But once I knew, I needed a place to practise, and I thought of KL.
"I know the facilities here (ABM) are good, since I've been here before for tournaments, so it was one of the options.
"I reached out to coaches, and they have allowed me to be here for a couple of weeks. Very nice of them, so I'm very grateful and thankful.
"Previously, I've only used this hall for training during tournaments but have not participated in their training programme.
"The players here start very early compared to what I'm used to. I just started training today (Tuesday), so I must change my rhythm and try to wake up early for practice.
"They show up about 6.45am or 7am, which is early for me.
"And yes, 100 per cent I am trying to escape the winter in Denmark, which can be very rough; I don't like it," added Antonsen, who will still head to Melbourne after the US$2 million (RM9.3 million) World Tour Finals.
Antonsen is only one of the four players who has won the World Tour Finals crown.