Hans-Kristian Vittinghus

Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (born 16 January 1986) is a Danish retired badminton player. He was a member of the winning Denmark team at the 2016 Thomas Cup in Kunshan, China.

Career

Junior He won 4 junior national titles, 2 in singles in 2003 and 2005 and 2 in men's doubles in 1999 and 2003. As a part of the Danish Under 19 national team, he won the gold medal at the Under 19 European Team Championships. He also won a bronze medal in the individual event in men's singles.

Senior After becoming a senior player in the summer of 2005, he won his first international title in November 2006, beating former world no. 1, M. Roslin Hashim in the final of the Norwegian International Championships. Since then he has recaptured the title in Norway twice, in 2009 and 2010.

He also won the Turkiye International in 2007, Dutch International in 2008 & 2011, Spanish Open in 2009 and 2013, Irish International in 2010, Belgian International in 2014 and Denmark International in 2019.

He also plays in the Danish Badminton League. He plays as the first singles for Højbjerg Badminton. Hans-Kristian Vittinghus started playing badminton at the age of five in Solrød Strand Badmintonklub.

In November 2015, he won the Scottish Grand Prix in Glasgow, Scotland, against English Rajiv Ouseph as the no.1 seed, 21–19, 11–21, 21–16.

In June 2016, he beat Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia to win the first Thomas Cup trophy for Denmark. He later won his first BWF Super Series title, the Australian Open Super Series, beating Jeon Hyeok-jin from Korea 21–16, 19–21, 21–11.

In January 2021, Vittinghus reached his first major final since the Dubai World Superseries Finals title clash in 2014 at the Super 1000 Thailand Open where he came runner up to compatriot, Viktor Axelsen.

Vittinghus first hinted at retirement in 2022 when he made the decision to post an announcement on social media. Although Vittinghus would officially retire from badminton at the age of 37 in November 2023, after competing in his last tournament at the Norwegian International.

Personal life Vittinghus married Norwegian dressage rider Selina Hundstuen Solberg on 11 September 2016. They have one child together, named Vincent.

Vittinghus hosts his own podcast called A Year On Tour with Vittinghus, where he talks about his experience on tournaments and various BWF World Tour events he has participated in. He also co-hosts another podcast together with fellow Danish badminton player Anders Antonsen, 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.

Achievements

European Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2017 Sydbank Arena, Kolding, Denmark Rajiv Ouseph 21–18, 21–23, 16–21 Bronze Bronze 2021 Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine Anders Antonsen 14–21, 17–21 Bronze Bronze

European Junior Championships Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2005 De Maaspoort, Den Bosch, Netherlands Dieter Domke 10–15, 7–15 Bronze Bronze

BWF World Tour (1 runner-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 Tours are 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 2020 (II) Thailand Open Super 1000 Viktor Axelsen 11–21, 7–21 Runner-up

BWF Superseries (1 title, 1 runner-up) The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.

Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2014 Dubai World Superseries Finals Chen Long 16–21, 10–21 Runner-up 2016 Australian Open Jeon Hyeok-jin 21–16, 19–21, 21–11 Winner BWF Superseries Finals tournament BWF Superseries Premier tournament BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (2 titles, 4 runners-up) 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 2010 Bitburger Open Chen Long 3–21, 21–12, 9–21 Runner-up 2011 Bitburger Open Wang Zhengming 21–18, 21–10 Winner 2013 London Grand Prix Gold Tian Houwei 20–22, 16–21 Runner-up 2014 German Open Arvind Bhat 22–24, 21–19, 11–21 Runner-up 2015 U.S. Open Lee Chong Wei 20–22, 12–21 Runner-up 2015 Scottish Open Rajiv Ouseph 21–19, 11–21, 21–16 Winner BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (11 titles, 1 runner-up) Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2006 Norwegian International Muhammad Roslin Hashim 22–20, 6–21, 21–16 Winner 2007 Turkiye International Petr Koukal 23–21, 21–15 Winner 2008 Dutch International Wu Yunyong 21–12, 21–18 Winner 2009 Norwegian International Marc Zwiebler 15–21, 21–18, 21–19 Winner 2009 Spanish Open Kashyap Parupalli 21–10, 21–16 Winner 2010 Norwegian International Henri Hurskainen 21–16, 19–21, 21–8 Winner 2010 Irish International Pablo Abián 21–13, 14–21, 23–21 Winner 2011 Dutch International Ville Lång 18–21, 21–15, 21–4 Winner 2011 Denmark International Jan Ø. Jørgensen 15–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2013 Spanish Open Joachim Persson 21–9, 21–16 Winner 2014 Belgian International Marc Zwiebler 11–8, 10–11, 11–9, 11–9 Winner 2019 Denmark International Kai Schäfer 21–16, 21–18 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament