Rasmussen finds net value in doubles

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta

The badminton world would not have been able to watch the skillful Jonas Rasmussen had the specialized doubles player chosen to play soccer instead of badminton.

Rasmussen, 26, said that during his teenage period, about three years after he entered a badminton club, he was faced with a choice between continuing to play badminton or shifting to soccer.

"I chose badminton because it found it enjoyable. It was a fast game and I like playing at speed. I beat my friends quite often in my neighborhood," Rasmussen said, adding that badminton and soccer are the two most popular sports in Denmark.

Rasmussen recalled his childhood when he used to play with other children in his neighborhood by using a high fence as a "net". He joined a small badminton club in his hometown, Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark after Copenhagen, when he was only nine years old.

Five years later, at 14, he joined the Danish national training center and became a member of the junior team.

At first, he had to play in all three categories of singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles, but when he was 17 he became a national champion at junior level in the men's doubles.

"We had to choose between singles, doubles and mixed doubles, so I went for doubles and mixed doubles," he said.

Three years later he had to stop playing badminton for five months due to military service, as it is compulsory for Danish males to serve in the military.

He said conscription changed his life, as he learned a lot about strong discipline. He said that he was glad to know that people accepted him just as "Jonas", not "badminton Jonas".

Rasmussen paired up with Lars Paaske, two years older than he, in 2001. They built themselves into Denmark's strongest pair and then the world's top pair.

They became world champions in 2003 after defeating the Indonesian pair of Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto.

They also won the China Open in November the same year at the expense of Malaysian's top doubles pair Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook.

In the mixed doubles with Rikke Olsen, Rasmussen was a step short of becoming the European champion, losing to Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of England in 2003.

"I really want to develop my shots and game so that I can play faster and better," he said.

The former student of Copenhagen Business School (CBS) majoring in communications said that he wanted to run a consulting company in the future.

"I studied at CBS for only five months and dropped out later as it was difficult to combine study and badminton, but I'm thinking of continuing my studies so that I can have my own company later," he said.

He said that as he had made his choice of playing badminton he would be committed to the sport by always trying to improve his skill.

He has not thought about retirement yet.

"As long as my body can take the hard training I will continue to play badminton. Probably I will retire when I am Jens Eriksen's age (35). Right now I see that I can still improve," he said.