Posted by Stephan on
February 27, 2009
Training With Junior Korean Team
This morning the IBA was invited to train with the Korean Junior team in Karlslunde,Denmark. There were 16 young Koreans (8 boys and 8 girls). I was able to play against two of their top juniors. I have a great respect for the way Koreans play badminton. Very disciplined in their technique and training. They play very patiently and wait for their openings. They hit the shuttle very clean and are fearsome when it comes to their flat play. I won both of my matches and enjoyed being able to play against different styles. On one hand its nice to play against patient players since they won’t blow you away in the first 3 shots. However along with their patience comes great quality and eventualy that is how they win their points. In my matches today I proved to be more patient with higher quality:) Lets wait and see when they get older!
The picture is of me and Shon Seung Mo (2004 Men’s Singles Olympic Silver Medalist) who was the coach for the Korean Team.
Posted by Stephan on
February 26, 2009
SWISS SUPER SERIES 2009
To follow the draw for the SWISS Open Super Series 2009 click on the link below.
Posted by Stephan on
February 26, 2009
ALL ENGLAND SUPER SERIES 2009
To find the the draw for the All England Super Series click on the link below.
In only a few days the All England will start its qualifying rounds. I have gone over the draw and think there will be A LOT of interesting matches to look out for. My personal favorites to watch will be Carl Baxter (England) vs Anand Pawar (India), that is if Carl Baxter does not get promoted into the main draw. They are both excellent players with a similar level. My second choice would have to be Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia) vs Wei Feng Chong (Malaysia). I saw Chong playing in Germany and he looked like one tough lefty:) And Tommy is a very high calibre player with tree trunk legs! So I think this will also prove to be a fun match to watch. Of course the other matches will be very exciting and I look forward to see who will make it to the main draw of the All England!
Posted by Stephan on
February 22, 2009
German Open 2009
I will be competing in this year’s German Open 2009. To follow the draw click on the link below
Well I lost my first round match yesterday to Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark. It was NOT my finest hour. I had hoped to keep a perfect record against him since I had previously beaten him twice before, but it was not to be. However there are always some positives that have to come out of any match. This time, since I was clearly not ever in the game, I focused on keeping things simple and tried to be as early at the net as possible. This resulted in much better rallies in the second set and gave myself a better chance to get back in the match. Even though my opponent ended up taking most of those rallies I was still having much better opportunities to turn things around. Its a game of inches and sometimes you have it…other times you don’t
I will be competing in Croatia next week and hopefully, there, i will be on top of my game!
Posted by Stephan on
February 21, 2009
Herlev vs Triton Aalborg
Today we played our 3rd playoff match against Triton Aalborg. They are a strong team, 3rd highest in the division, and last time we played we got crushed. I was out on a mission today, since I had previously lost to their number 1 guy…Taufiq Hidayat from Indonesia. So my mission was revenge!
Ohh how sweet this victory was, since it was on our home courts in front of our home crowd. Sweet as apple pie:) I ended up winning 21-11 21-15.
We ended up losing our doubles in two straight sets but once again i feel that my partner and I are improving every match and enjoying the process.
The team played better than all the previous team matches. We ended up losing 5-8. We took two ladies singles, two men’s singles and one ladies doubles. Again I think the team is heading in the right direction and always keeping its head high.
Our next team match will be on the 16th of March against Solrød Str. I hope that this time not only do I get to have the sweet taste of victory but the team as well.
See you then!!
Posted by Stephan on
February 16, 2009
Herlev vs Kastrup
Today’s team match was against Kastrup who are the 5th team in Division 1. We lost 9-4 but I think the team in general played very well. Good team spirit, good fighting in every match and good overall support for each other. I played the first men’s single against Thomas Fynbo of Denmark. I had a barn burner and pulled it out 21-14, 21-23, 21-16. It felt very good to get another win under my belt. In the men’s doubles we had quite a tough match against Michael Sogaard and Mikkel Elborn Larsen. We ended up losing 26-24 21-6. However I think that it was a good doubles match since my partner and me were getting better at maintaining the attack and pushing forward.
Our next team match will be this Saturday the 21st against Aalborg who are 3rd in the Division….should be fun!:)
