KUALA LUMPUR: Denmark's Anders Antonsen has commended the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) efforts to boost the prize money in the sport, but he was quick to point out that financial incentives have always been a secondary consideration whenever he steps onto the court.
The 26-year-old, who has set up his temporary base in Kuala Lumpur as he gears up for the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou from Dec 13-17, believes that shuttlers deserve to compete for bigger tournament purses and hopes to see more money being invested in badminton.
BWF recently announced that the prize fund for the World Tour Finals has been increased to US$2.5 million (RM11.7 million), a significant 20 per cent increase from the initial offer of US$2 million.
BWF stated that this amount will be retained for 2024 before receiving another round of boosts in 2025 and 2026, with the prize funds increasing to US$3 million (RM14.04 million) and US$3.5 million (RM16.39 million), respectively.
The revised prize fund will see the singles champions walk away with a staggering US$200,000 (RM937,000) jackpot, while the winners in doubles events are set to share US$210,000 (RM983,000).
The highest payout in a BWF-sanctioned tournament was this year's US$2 million China Open, with Denmark's Viktor Axelsen and South Korea's An Se Young, the men's and women's singles world No. 1s, taking home US$140,000 (RM656,000) respectively.
Antonsen said he's relishing the prospect of contending for his second World Tour Finals crown and claiming the biggest prize money ever of US$200,000.
In 2020, he defeated Axelsen and earned US$120,000 for his biggest paycheck in the season finale.
"The money will definitely motivate me. I'll do my absolute best to claim the big prize," he said in an interview with the local media recently.
"Obviously, it's great. I like to see that. I like to see more money in the sport in general.
"But when you're on the court, you don't really think about that. You kind of forget about everything and just focus on what you need to do to become successful in the match."
Antonsen said he was glad he managed to make the cut for the eight-man Finals in seventh place after being given a late scare by Kenta Nishimoto of Japan, who threatened to overtake him in the closing stretch of the regular season.
"I thought the race was to be between me, (Lee) Zii Jia, and (Ng) Tze Yong. I didn't expect Nishimoto to suddenly get that close. It was some tough, tough days. At that point, it was just out of my hand. I couldn't do anything, just waited. So it was horrible," he recalled.
"Obviously, I was happy to eventually qualify. It's a really strong lineup of players for the World Tour Finals this year, so I'm proud to qualify in what I have called the comeback season for me.
"It's also an Olympic season. Many players are participating in a bunch of tournaments, so it's not easy to qualify. I'm number seven on the list. I'm very pleased with that."