World No. 2 Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark is now chasing a dream — to win the All England badminton championship next year.
The 28-year-old Jorgensen, the contemporary face of Danish badminton in men’s singles along with World No. 3 Viktor Axelsen, acknowledges that it is a highly competitive circuit and one has to be at his best to be at the top.
“For me the biggest challenge this year was to overcome a serious hip injury. I am glad that I found a way out of that phase,” said Jorgensen, who will be playing for Delhi Acers in the Premier Badminton League starting here from Sunday.
“Winning the 2016 China Open Super Series is the biggest thing to have happened to me. Beating a great player like Rio Olympics gold medallist Chen Long is something that I will cherish for long,” added the Dane.
“There is no doubt about the great Morten Frost’s influence on the sport back home. I was lucky to be coached by him sometime back. We have had some great players whom we always looked up in awe like Frost, and then Peter Gade. I am naturally happy we are keeping our country consistently on the world badminton map,” said Jorgensen.
“My biggest target now is to win the All England championship next year. That is one title I am really looking forward to and then only think of other events,” he said.
Jorgensen felt that waning Chinese domination doesn’t necessarily mean the end for that country. “There are still some great players like Chen Long, who I feel is the best now. Lin Dan even at this age is very dangerous. There are a few young Chinese players coming up. But it is important to note that other countries have started catching up,” added Jorgensen.
On the status of the sport back home in Denmark, he said, “We are glad that some radio stations and other sponsors have been promoting it in a big way. We hope to see new talent emerge in the days to come.”
On the PBL, Jorgensen felt that it was the kind of event the sport badly needs in terms of promotion and also presenting players with huge opportunities.
“The points format is different but definitely exciting. I am eagerly waiting to play here,” Jorgensen said.
On Indian badminton, the star Danish player felt that Saina Nehwal was an example for others like P.V. Sindhu to take a cue from. “There is Sameer [Verma] who looks good,” added Jorgensen of the Indian whom he had lost to in the 2016 Hong Kong Open semifinals.
