Top Five Tallest Badminton Players in the World

Badminton as a sport was originally developed in India under British rule and was extremely popular in the 1870s. Although its existence dates back to the 1870s, badminton as a competitive sport has gained enormous prominence only in the past few decades. With the rise of highly competitive badminton leagues including the BWF Tour, the National Badminton League (NBL), the Premier Badminton League (PBL), the Chinese Badminton Super League, the Indonesian Badminton League (IBL), the Malaysian Purple League (MPL), Korea Badminton League and Danish Badminton League, the stature of badminton has incredibly elevated over the past decades. Additionally, the sport of badminton has also witnessed the rise of prominent athletes, including Kento Momota, Srikanth Kidambi, P.V. Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap, Sai Preenath and many more.  While badminton is largely a game of strength, endurance and brilliant racquet skills, the height of badminton players also plays a major role in deciding their trajectory of success in the sport.

Victor Axelsen

Danish badminton player, Victor Axelsen, who is currently ranked at number one in men’s single on a global scale, was born in Odense and was introduced to the sport of badminton by his father at an extremely young age of six years. Axelsen’s first successful encounters with badminton included the 2009 German Junior and the European U17 Championships. In the 2010 World Junior Championships, Axelsen defeated South Korea’s Kang ji-Wook and established himself as the first European badminton player to clinch the title. Victor Axelsen has been honored twice with the gold medal at the World Championship in the years 2017 and 2022 at Glasgow and Tokyo, respectively. Furthermore, Victor Axelsen won the intensely competitive European Championship thrice in the years 2016, 2018 and 2022. With a phenomenal height of 1.94m, Victor Axelsen is also considered to be the tallest athlete in the history of badminton.

Anders Antonsen

The 26-year-old Danish professional badminton player, Anders Antonsen, is often hailed as one of the most successful athletes in the world of badminton. At the beginning of his badminton career, Antonsen was awarded with the Emerging Young Player of the Year Award in 2015 for clinching the 2015 European Junior Championships in the boys’ singles. Additionally, Anders Antonsen captured the European Men’s Team Championships twice in the years 2016 & 2018, and also clinched the European Mixed Team Championships four times in the years 2017, 2019, 2021 and recently in 2023. Furthermore, the Danish professional badminton player was honored with a silver medal twice at the 2017 & 2019 World Championships and with a bronze medal at the 2021 and 2023 World Championships. With a height of 1.88m, Anders Antonsen is considered to be the second-tallest badminton player in the world.  

Jan Ø. Jørgensen

Former professional badminton player Jan Ø. Jorgensen is considered to be the third-tallest badminton player in the world with an incredible height of 1.85m. During his flourishing career, Jan Ø. Jorgensen clinched the prestigious Danish Championship thrice in the years 2012, 2013 and 2015. Additionally, Jan Ø. Jorgensen has been honored with a silver medal twice at the 2010 European Badminton Championships and 2016 European Badminton Championships and with a bronze medal twice at the 2008 European Badminton Championships and 2012 European Badminton. Furthermore, in 2014, Jan Ø. Jorgensen established himself as the first European male singles player to successfully capture the Indonesia Open. Although Jan Ø. Jorgensen officially announced his retirement in October 2020, his legacy still resonates in the annals of badminton as one of the most inspiring tales to reckon with.

Lee Chong Wei

Lee Chong Wei is often referred to as one of the most prominent and highly competitive badminton players of his era. With a height of 1.72m, Lee Chong Wei is considered to be the fourth-tallest badminton player in the world. Lee Chong Wei grabbed enormous attention after he was ranked at the number one position as a singles player for a total time period of 349 weeks. Lee clinched his maiden silver medal in 2008 at the Beijing Olympic Games and became the sixth Malaysian badminton player to ever win a medal at the Olympic Games. Lee Chong Wei was praised by the then prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, who also addressed the badminton player as a national hero. While Wei was at the prime of his badminton career, he was unfortunately diagnosed with nose cancer in 2018. Although the Malaysian badminton stalwart tried his best to stay active, his game kept on deteriorating, compelling him to announce his early departure from the game in 2019.

Lin Dan

Popularly referred to as “Super Dan”, Lin Dan is a former Chinese professional badminton player. With a total of two Olympic Championships, five world championships and six All-England championships under his belt, Lin Dan is considered to be one of the most successful and versatile athletes in the world of badminton. With a height of 1.78m, Lin Dan is the fifth-tallest badminton player in the world. At the age of 29, Lin Dan completed the “super grand slam” title, clinching a total of nine major titles including, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asian Championships. In an attempt to recognise Lin Dan’s significant contributions to the badminton arena, he was inducted into the BWF Badminton Hall of Fame in 2023.