Thai badminton star Kunlavut Vitidsarn has a bright ‘View' for the future
Thai badminton star Kunlavut Vitidsarn after winning against Denmark's Anders Antonsen at the Thailand Open in Bangkok, on May 18. PHOTO: AFP
SINGAPORE – Known for his tenacity and toughness in rallies, Thai badminton star Kunlavut Vitidsarn's famed defensive skills are rooted in an act of rebellion.
Laughing as he recounted the story, the men's singles world No. 2 told The Straits Times: 'When I was young, my coach told me to always attack. But I thought I would use up a lot of my power and tire easily if I keep attacking; if I could defend well and counter attack, that would save me energy.
'This was my own understanding, and it worked for some time.'
Nicknamed View by his parents, things could have worked out differently for him as he was a sickly child who never envisioned he would become the badminton world champion and Olympic medallist he is today.
He said: 'When I was young, I didn't look too much into the future because my father would take me to the hospital almost every day because of allergies.
'I was told to play sports to strengthen my body, and that was enough for me.
'When I was around seven years' old, my uncle took me to play golf, while my father, who is a badminton coach, taught me to play badminton. In the end, I chose badminton because I felt standing and swinging at golf balls was not as fun as running around and jumping to hit shuttlecocks.'
His appetite for success was whetted when he won his first medal in a local junior badminton competition at eight.
'That was when I started to think more about my future and I wanted to try everything to become better in badminton,' said Kunlavut.
When he saw Ratchanok Intanon, then 18, create history in 2013 by becoming Thailand's first badminton world champion and the youngest singles world champion, he decided to join the Banthongyord Badminton School where she had trained at.
Incredibly, Kunlavut managed to follow in her footsteps when he became the first Thai to win the World Junior Championships boys' singles title three times from 2017 to 2019 – Ratchanok had achieved the same feat in the girls' singles from 2009 to 2011.
He continued to excel at the senior level, although he insisted it was not that straightforward as he faced 'older, more experienced, and much better players'.
He said: 'If something didn't work during the tournament, or if I wasn't good enough in some areas, I would go back to training and keep trying even harder. But it was also very difficult to train then (during the transition to senior level) during the Covid-19 pandemic.'
In 2022, he became the SEA Games champion and won silver at the world championships, before upgrading it to a gold in 2023.
But after becoming world champion, he realised he had to evolve and vary his game to do well at the Olympics.
He said: 'Many players understand better how I play, which makes it very difficult and stressful to play my usual defensive game. I had to become more attacking and smash more to be better than I used to be, and it worked again.'
Already nicknamed the Marathon Man and Three-Game God for his clutch performance in deciders – he has won nine of 10 three-game encounters in 2025 – Kunlavut has become more clinical in his attacks. At just 24, his CV includes a silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics and the Asian title in 2025.
Following the high-profile results, he has earned more than US$500,000 (S$645,000) in prize money, and his image is plastered on billboards across Bangkok for sponsors such as Visa and Toyota.
At the ongoing KFF Singapore Open, he beat China's 33rd-ranked Wang Zhengxing 21-8, 21-17 to advance to the quarter-finals, where he will meet Malaysia's 25th-ranked Leong Jun Hao at the Indoor Stadium.
When asked about his future goals, Kunlavut drew on his rebellious past – he wants to break his stubborn losing streak at the prestigious All England Open.
He said: 'Since young, I had three dreams -– to be world champion, Olympic champion and All England Open champion. World No. 1, not at all. If I get it, okay. But if not, it's okay.
'Somehow the All England is way more difficult to win than the world championships or Olympics. From 2020, I have lost in the first or second round every year. I hope to change that soon.
'Also, badminton is still not as famous in Thailand as other sports like football, volleyball and muay thai. I hope through the success of Thai players, we will see more people in Thailand start to play badminton, and more juniors develop into top players.'
David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.
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