Dubai: Malaysia’s 2014 Youth Olympic Games mixed doubles champion and current World No. 69 men’s singles player – Cheam June Wei, has finally “graduated” from Viktor Axelsen’s training camp in Dubai, and posted on social media to thank Axelsen for allowing him to join the camp.
“Had a really great time here with my buddies. Thanks @viktoraxelsen for having me here π₯π₯π€π€,” wrote Cheam on his Instagram page.
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After losing to Mithun Manjunath of India in the second round of the 2022 Odisha Open which that was held in Cuttack, India on Jan 22, 2022, Cheam flew directly from India to Dubai to start training with the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Viktor Axelsen, the reigning World Champion – Loh Kean Yew, and last year’s All-England semi-finalist Mark Caljouw.
Cheam who quit the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in Nov 2021, told Malaysian media two weeks ago that he was impressed by the top-notch facilities and positive vibes in Dubai.
Both Loh and Viktor replied to Cheam’s post on Instagram with messages below:
Loh Kean Yew: “Good practice sessions we had πͺπ»π₯”.
Viktor Axelsen: “A pleasure having you here my friend π₯ thanks for some good weeks ππ»”.
In the comment thread on Instagram, Malaysia’s former World No. 1 men’s doubles player – Tan Boon Heong was asking (jokingly) Axelsen if he could go to Dubai as his sparring partner, and Axelsen replied with “Of course, Yes”.
Even though the training camp seemed to be a lot of fun, Axelsen did reveal that he expected everyone to show up with “120 percent” in every training session at his training camp.
The training sessions include intense morning training, followed by drills and gym work out in the afternoon.