Anders Antonsen (born 27 April 1997) is a Danish badminton player. He is a four-time World Championships medalist, two-time European Champion, and the current world's no. 4 in the men's singles discipline of the BWF World Ranking.
He won the gold medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships in the boys singles event, and at the same year was awarded the European Young Player of the Year. Together with the national team, he won the European Men's Team Championships in 2016 and 2018; also European Mixed Team Championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. Antonsen was the champion at the 2019 Minsk European Games, 2021 European Championships, the silver medalist at the 2017 European Championships, and the 2019 World Championships, and the bronze medalist at the 2021, 2023, and 2025 World Championships
Career Antonsen started his career in badminton at six years of age in Kastanievej, Viby. Together with his brother Kasper Antonsen, they learned from his father who worked at one of the badminton clubs in Aarhus called AB.
He made his international debut at the 2013 Forza Denmark International tournament. In 2015, he won the European Junior Championship, defeating German player Max Weißkirchen with a score of 21–9, 15–21, 21–9 in the final. In the same year, he also won several tournaments such as Dutch International, Belgian International, and Irish Open, and awarded the 2015 European Young Player of the Year.
In 2016, he won his first Grand Prix, the Scottish Open Grand Prix. In the same year, he also won several other tournaments such as the Spanish International, Austrian Open, and Swedish Master.
In 2017, he won the silver medal at the European Championship after being defeated by Rajiv Ouseph of England with a tight score of 19–21, 19–21. He also reached the semi-finals in two Superseries tournaments, the 2017 French Open where he lost to Kenta Nishimoto from Japan with a score of 17–21, 15–21, and later the Hong Kong Open where he was defeated by 2016 Rio Olympics gold medal winner Chen Long from China with a score of 14–21, 21–19, 17–21.
In 2018, Antonsen was chosen to be part of the Danish Thomas Cup team and won a bronze medal. At the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament, he managed to reach the semi-finals but was defeated at that stage by Chinese Taipei player Chou Tien-chen with a score of 21–19, 11–21, 12–21.
Play for the Aarhus AB, Antonsen won the National Championships title three times in a row from 2017 to 2019. He won the BWF World Tour title at the 2019 Indonesia Masters, defeating 2018 World Champion and then World number 1 Kento Momota from Japan in the final with a score of 21–16, 14–21, 21–16. He emerged as the men's singles champion and took the gold medal at the 2019 Minsk European Games beat Brice Leverdez of France in the final with the score 21–19, 14–21, 21–10. At the 2019 Indonesia Open a Super 1000 tournament, Antonsen managed to step into the final round but he had to be satisfied as runner-up after losing to Chou Tien-chen with a score of 18–21, 26–24, 15–21. Antonsen captured the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, lost to the first seeded, the reigning champion Kento Momota in straight games 9–21, 3–21.
Antonsen won the end of the season 2020 BWF World Tour Finals beating Viktor Axelsen in the finals.
In 2021, Antonsen participated at the European Mixed Team Championships in Finland, and helped the team win the gold medal. At the May European Championships, he was crowned as the men's singles champion, after organizers decided to cancel the finals, due to his opponent, Viktor Axelsen, tested positive for COVID-19.
Antonsen clinched a bronze medal after he lost in the semifinals of the 2021 World Championships to Loh Kean Yew, the eventual World Champion, in straight games, 21–23, 14–21.
Starting off the season in 2022, Antonsen managed to avenge his loss to Loh Kean Yew in the World Championships semi-finals, winning against the reigning world champion in the first round of the All England Open, in rubber games, 21–15, 18–21, 21–13. He then lost in the next round to Lakshya Sen, in straight games, 16–21, 18–21.
On 30 April, Antonsen won silver at the European Championships losing to compatriot Viktor Axelsen (17–21, 15–21) in the finals in Madrid, Spain. Antonsen was very upset over the quality of his own play, saying audiences nearly deserved an apology.
Antonsen then pulled out of the Asian leg of tournaments, the Indonesia Masters, the Indonesia Open, the Malaysian Open, the Malaysian Masters and the Singapore Open, citing injuries.
In 2024, Antonsen managed to claim four BWF World Tour title, including his first ever Super 1000 event, in the Malaysia Open, beating Shi Yuqi in the final. Two week after his victory in the Malaysia, he won the Indonesia Masters beating Brian Yang in the final. In April, he crowned as European champions by winning his second European Championships title. At the Indonesia Open finals in June, the "Istora boy" was beaten by Shi Yuqi in rubber game. Antonsen made his second appearance at the Olympics in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but his journey was stopped in the quarter-finals. On 24 August 2024, Antonsen announced on his social media that his coaching agreement with Joachim Persson had been terminated as Persson was seen placing bets on matches. Since then, he appointed his brother Kasper Antonsen, as his new head coach starting from October. He won the home soil Denmark Open title, beating Koki Watanabe in the final in straight game. He then captured his fourth World Tour title of the year in the China Masters. Antonsen qualified to compete in the year-end finals tournament the BWF World Tour Finals, and finished runners-up to Shi Yuqi. He concluded the season as World number 2 in the BWF World ranking.
Antonsen opened the 2025 season by competing in the Malaysia Open. As a title holder, he unable to defend his title to last year finalist Shi Yuqi, losing the final match in straight games. After several early exits, Antonsen reached his second final in Thailand Open but lost the match against home favourite, Kunlavut Vitidsarn. In June, Antonsen beat Shi Yuqi in the semifinals of Indonesia Open and won against Chou Tien Chen again in the final, repeating the feat he did back in 2019. Later on the year, Antonsen made the final in Korea Open and won his second title of the year in French Open.
Personal life Antonsen has an older brother, Kasper Antonsen, who is a Danish former badminton national player, and has trained with his brother since they were young.
Antonsen co-hosts a podcast together with fellow Danish badminton player Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, called The Badminton Experience, where they cover many different topics on badminton, ranging from players and technical aspects of the game. They also host Q&A sessions from time to time, and sometimes, they invite other badminton players to come on the podcasts as guests, to share their experience and answer questions from the hosts. Notable players that have been on the podcast include Lee Zii Jia, Greysia Polli, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and former Danish Men's singles player Peter Gade.
Besides recording podcast episodes with Vittinghus, Antonsen also has a YouTube channel, where he uploads his vlogs, mainly about his training and tour life on the BWF circuit. His YouTube channel has 101,000 subscribers as of July 2022.
Achievements
World Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result Ref 2019 St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland Kento Momota 9–21, 3–21 Silver 2021 Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín, Huelva, Spain Loh Kean Yew 21–23, 14–21 Bronze 2023 Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark Kodai Naraoka 23–25, 12–21 Bronze 2025 Adidas Arena, Paris, France Kunlavut Vitidsarn 17–21, 15–21 Bronze
European Games Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result Ref 2019 Falcon Club, Minsk, Belarus Brice Leverdez 21–19, 14–21, 21–10 Gold
European Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result Ref 2017 Sydbank Arena, Kolding, Denmark Rajiv Ouseph 19–21, 19–21 Silver 2021 Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine Viktor Axelsen Walkover Gold 2022 Polideportivo Municipal Gallur, Madrid, Spain Viktor Axelsen 17–21, 15–21 Silver 2024 Saarlandhalle, Saarbrücken, Germany Toma Junior Popov 21–18, 21–13 Gold 2026 Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín, Huelva, Spain Christo Popov 12–21, 19–21 Silver
European Junior Championships Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result Ref 2015 Regional Sport Centrum Hall, Lubin, Poland Max Weißkirchen 21–9, 15–21, 21–9 Gold
BWF World Tour (11 titles, 10 runners-up) The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Men's singles Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result Ref 2019 Indonesia Masters Super 500 Kento Momota 21–16, 14–21, 21–16 Winner 2019 Spain Masters Super 300 Viktor Axelsen 14–21, 11–21 Runner-up 2019 Indonesia Open Super 1000 Chou Tien-chen 18–21, 26–24, 15–21 Runner-up 2020 Indonesia Masters Super 500 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21–17, 15–21, 9–21 Runner-up 2020 Denmark Open Super 750 Rasmus Gemke 18–21, 21–19, 21–12 Winner 2020 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals Viktor Axelsen 21–16, 5–21, 21–17 Winner 2021 Indonesia Masters Super 750 Kento Momota 17–21, 11–21 Runner-up 2023 Singapore Open Super 750 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 16–21, 13–21 Runner-up 2023 Korea Open Super 500 Loh Kean Yew 11–21, 21–11, 21–19 Winner 2024 Malaysia Open Super 1000 Shi Yuqi 21–14, 21–13 Winner 2024 Indonesia Masters Super 500 Brian Yang 18–21, 21–13, 21–18 Winner 2024 Indonesia Open Super 1000 Shi Yuqi 9–21, 21–12, 14–21 Runner-up 2024 Denmark Open Super 750 Koki Watanabe 21–15, 21–16 Winner 2024 China Masters Super 750 Jonatan Christie 21–15, 21–13 Winner 2024 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals Shi Yuqi 18–21, 14–21 Runner-up 2025 Malaysia Open Super 1000 Shi Yuqi 8–21, 15–21 Runner-up 2025 Thailand Open Super 500 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 16–21, 21–17, 9–21 Runner-up 2025 Indonesia Open Super 1000 Chou Tien-chen 22–20, 21–14 Winner 2025 Korea Open Super 500 Jonatan Christie 10–21, 21–15, 17–21 Runner-up 2025 French Open Super 750 Christo Popov 21–12, 21–19 Winner 2026 Thailand Open Super 500 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 9–21, 24–22, 21–18 Winner
BWF Grand Prix (1 title) The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.
Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result Ref 2016 Scottish Open Soong Joo Ven 22–20, 21–15 Winner BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF Grand Prix tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series (6 titles, 1 runner-up) Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result Ref 2015 Dutch International Yuhan Tan 21–11, 22–20 Winner 2015 Belgian International Christian Lind Thomsen 21–18, 21–17 Winner 2015 Polish International Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin 12–21, 18–21 Runner-up 2015 Irish Open Lucas Claerbout 21–18, 22–20 Winner 2016 Swedish Masters Mattias Borg 21–12, 21–10 Winner 2016 Austrian Open Kanta Tsuneyama 21–9, 21–17 Winner 2016 Spanish International Kanta Tsuneyama 14–21, 22–20, 21–18 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament
Record against selected opponents Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 23 December 2025.