Call it the old monarch’s dogged insistence on principles or the young prince’s confusion in the face of onslaught from mighty opponents. The Danes in badminton are virtually camped at crossroads. Once champions of the game, they’ve witnessed Asia - currently badminton’s undisputed world-beaters - crush almost all other systems.
“Asians have success models; we’ve thrived on philosophy to keep badminton’s strong culture alive in Denmark,” says Jakob Hoei, the Danish junior coach at the World Juniors event.
“Asian training methods are stricter, regimented. For children in Denmark, badminton’s usually more fun,” he says.
Yet, the motivation to excel comes from watching great players at the six-odd top clubs spread across the small European country. Once there was Peter Gade, now there is Kenneth Johansson, their current top-10 representative.
“Our kids learn much from watching the big Danish names. The incentives are to get better, build a social attachment to this revered sport,” Hoei adds. And, of course, to keep up the pace with the Asians - Chinese, Koreans and Indonesians - without copying their methods.
Quality over quantity
Denmark has sent just three players to the World Juniors - Steffen Rasmussen (”Not related to Tine, there are many Rasmussens in Denmark,” Hoei quips) and Emil Holst in the men’s section, and Anne Hald Jensen in the women’s. “We have just three here, but we’re hoping to make at least the quarter-finals,” the coach adds. Injury to one of their doubles players prevented them from fielding a side in the team event.
Denmark once boasted of the biggest ratio of shuttlers to the total population, but other sports have gradually eaten into those numbers. The sport continues to revolve around the 5-6 clubs, all not more than half-an-hour away from each other. The idea of regional centres or a single system of coaching is only just getting popular.
“Even in terms of technique, we’re not No.1 in any particular aspect like speed or stamina. We defend and attack well and have smart shots. We can only get our juniors for 15 hours of training in a week, while the Asians do 25. But we learn a lot from watching our senior pros,” Hoei explains.
But when the impressionable teenagers land at world events such as these and watch the Asians slaughter the rest, there are some very evident temptations to overcome. “When they watch the Chinese win, they go home and want to copy it. But they realise it’s not easy to play the same way physically and technically, so we try working our games around sound tactics,” he says. So as coach, Hoei’s biggest challenge is to get the young players to believe in themselves. The Danish trio trained with Gade and other seniors a week before coming to Pune.
The European powerhouse has resisted the temptation of importing Asian coaches en masse to a large extent, but the club leagues have Asians and English doubles pairs and the strong Bulgarians helping the Danes get a glimpse of what’s happening in Asia.
“The Indian youngsters are no longer with slower games and high lifts. Now, their game is fast-paced with good pushes. Some strokes of the doubles players at the net, are ones I’ve never seen before. Saina (Nehwal) plays like an adult, very mature for her age.”
While the transition’s sweeping through India, the Danes are holding on to their bastion. Philosophy, more than formulae, matters. At least for the moment.