C-19 DAMAGE IN BADMINTON EUROPE

Will the C-19 badminton damage in Europe be irreparable? Most people in Europe will not talk about damage yet, because it is difficult to see, and unfortunately I see very few innovative projects in Europe. It seems everyone has hoped it will pass soon but we are now at 7 months and it does not look like it will be over in a few months.

You can ask yourself what the damage should be for Europe, in 10 months the games will start and all preparation tournaments will be canceled one by one. The countries from Asia do not want to come to Europe and there are a few good reasons for this, it is certainly not only the C-19 situation in Europe because there is also one in Asia. There are many more things at play that not everyone immediately thinks about, but which must be taken into account. Badminton is extremely important for Asia during the games, for countries like Indonesia it is the only way to get a medal, the country is just not good enough to do that through other sports. For the much needed opposition, the players from Asia do not have to come to Europe, there is more than enough opposition on their own continent, they will probably regret not being able to play against the best Danish players but that is also all they have to lose.

Asia does not need Europe, while Europe has a great need for Asia, precisely because of the enormous width of opposition. While in Asia practically nothing has stopped training and playing matches, our sport has been subject to a lockdown in Europe and is still subject to restrictions that prevent proper preparation for the Olympic Games. What am I missing in innovative projects in this special situation, literally all countries took a wait-and-see approach. There was no script for a situation like this and before unions and organizations were dead that it could take longer, so much time had been lost that it was no longer considered necessary to work out an alternative plan. The FEB in the Netherlands was the only one in Europe that came up with an Online alternative in the first weeks of the C-19 crisis, followed by a small group of trainers in Italy and after a few months Badminton Denmark also came up with a similar project

I am a great supporter of removing players from the international circuit, to work in peace and quiet on improving game situations, it is a concept that you only see in Asia and a little bit in Denmark. If national coaches were to do their job properly, there would be a file at each federation office with analyzes of all players with game situations, techniques, footwork or tactics that would have to be worked on if only there was time. Such a plan should have been put into effect immediately in a crisis like this one, instead of catching up the players stood still.

Coaches but also players do not understand this concept at all, we have made a very extensive analysis of some players (more than 50 hours) with very surprising conclusions. This could give these players a tremendous advantage to advance their game by leaps and bounds. If there were a similar plan for the entire national team, it would be an investment in the future that is unparalleled elsewhere in Europe. But none of that, waiting to see what happens and looking at the situation was nothing like most badminton federation. In Asia people thought very differently, there was hardly any stop with the training and plenty of matches were played. Asia does not intend to lend a helping hand to Europe and the cancellation of major tournaments fits well with the schedule of preparations for Tokyo.

The Goal: No medal for a continent other than Asia.