# Hans-Kristian Vittinghus

Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (born 16 January 1986) is a retired Danish 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 fellow 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 |
| 2021 | Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine | Anders Antonsen | 14–21, 17–21 | Bronze |

### European Junior Championships

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