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After decades-long quest, Denmark wins Thomas Cup at last

In the last two weeks two great international sporting events occurred. One was the meteoric rise of low-ranked Leicester to win the highly competitive Premier League for the first time in their history. The other was the victory by the Danish badminton team in winning the coveted Thomas Cup, for which they have been endeavoring since the tournament’s inception in 1949.

The Dames have been the losing finalists on eight occasions, a sad fact no other nation had to face in any sports. Denmark’s victory must be too sweet to savour. No other event to the Dames evokes such reverence and remembrance. For them it has been really hard - an ordeal almost - to win the cherished Thomas Cup.

Although this Thomas Cup team comprising of Viktor Axelsen, Jan Jorgensen, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, Mads Pieler Kolding, Mads Conrad-Peterson, Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen were not of the same calibre and class of the famous Danish teams over the decades, their grit and luck paid off as the other major contenders such as China, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia had much weaker teams this time around.

One has read about the legendary Danish ‘Dream Team’ that played in the Thomas Cup of 1964 held in Tokyo which featured badminton titans like Finn Kobero and Erland Kops who both won the All England singles seven times each. If not for the ruckus created by the rowdy Indonesian supporters, the Danes could have won and not wait for another two generations to lay their hand on the glittering trophy.

The same situation reported itself in 1967 in the final between Malaysia and Indonesia, and the International Badminton Federation (IBF) awarded the Thomas Cup to Malaysia.

Denmark, where badminton is a top sport, has produced singles and doubles champions in the All England in both the men’s and women’s categories, such as Finn Kobbero, Erland Kops, Svend Pri, Fleming Delfs, Morten Frost, Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, Peter Gade Christianson, Lene Koppen and many others.

Being a small nation, Denmark did not have the large reservoir of players like China, Indonesia or Malaysia, and it was their praiseworthy badminton club system, despite competition from soccer and other sports, that has kept them going despite all the ups and downs and disappointments over the decades.

The mainly stroke-playing Danes, unlike the smash-driven Asians, were a delight to watch with their shuttle wizardry and mesmerising court-craft. It was poetry in motion with the racquet.

It is good to see the Thomas Cup changing hands from the regular Asian powerhouses such as China, Indonesia and Malaysia to Japan, which won the Cup in 2014, and now Denmark. Other notable badminton playing nations that have yet to win the Thomas Cup are South Korea, India, Thailand and England.

It is hoped that badminton will see greater glory and popularity in the future due to favourable developments, one of which is the migration of Asian players to the developed countries.

Badminton needs to be expanded more for a global audience to be enthralled and mesmerised in this beautiful racquet game.

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