The World Championships 2013 are over! Samantha and I are back home. It was an unforgettable experience and I am very happy that we were able to participate in this great event.
In our first match, last week on Monday, we played the Irish brother and sister Magee whom we had never met before but we knew that we would have to be well focussed. We started with a small arrear but after the interval we quickly took a comfortable lead. We won the first game with 21-15. In the second game we managed to take the lead from the beginning. This gives a good feeling and often it means that you win the game. I deliberately say often because at that time I didn’t know yet what was about to happen later that week. Anyway, in this game we kept our lead and we decided the match to our advantage. So on to the second round, the last 32.
The next day we played the Polish pair Robert Mateusiak (age 37) /Nadiezda Zieba who are the European Champion, the former number 1 and the present number 8 on the World Ranking. We played them once before at the Bitburger Open in 2012. Then we lost 21-18 and 21-16. So this was quite a challenge. We started the first game very well. We took a 12-8 lead but then the Poles came back. Soon after they scored 6 points in a row and they took a 17-14 lead. At a 19-16 score we fought ourselves back to 19-19 but then it was over and they won the game by 21-19. Still we were aware that we were playing well and using the right tactics and with this knowledge we started the second game. We jumped off energetically and we even created a large margin of 13-2. The Poles were confused and looked affected. Especially Mateusiak was searching for the right tactics. At the score of 13-4 something remarkable happened. We played a good rally which was won by the Poles and all of a sudden they showed believe again. Mateusiak seemed to have found an extra gear and after 2 series of 4 consecutive points the gap was getting smaller and smaller. While the Poles were making great leaps forward we were scoring one or two points at the most. We kept fighting hard but we felt their breathing down our necks which is a very unpleasant feeling. At a certain moment the margin had been reduced to 2 points, 19-17 and from that moment on our opponents scored 3 consecutive points by winning long, well played, rallies. Match point for them. Mateusiak serving on me fortunately put the shuttle in the net. 20-20. Our service resulted in a fast rally which was won by the Poles again. Then Zieba served very well, they obtained the initiative and cashed their second match point. With 19-21 and 20-22 we drew the short straw. Disbelieve, shock and sadness were the first emotions after that last point. What a bitter pill!!!! How on earth was this possible? In all honesty I can say that this defeat is in my top 3 of worst losses ever. At a World Championship, after all the efforts we had made to get there, against a super pair and after such a huge lead…… no, it was a terrible feeling!
Anyway, it’s obvious that we have to learn from such an experience and two days after the match Samantha and I have analyzed the match intensively together with our National coach Rune Massing who, by the way, did an excellent coaching job during this tournament. We determined a number of important aspects we should work on in the coming months to enable us to make a next step in the direction of the top 20. Getting there is our goal for the next period.
After this meeting I only had one feeling, pride. Proud that we didn’t give up when it became clear that our Federation had no money to send us to China. Proud that we took the initiative to call for help from our supporters who granted us our participation. Proud that we even promoted our project by playing badminton between the shelves of a supermarket, but also proud of our performance at the tournament. At this spot I like to thank everyone who has supported us once again. All the contributors made it possible for us to participate in the most important event of this year and we are very grateful for that because I wouldn’t have liked to miss it not even for all the tea in China.
Yesterday I watched the finals with quite some surprise. Of course the highlight was the men’s single final between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan. The master did it again. After a full year absence he still is the very best. It really was very sad that Lee Chong Wei had to give up at the very last moment of the match. Let’s hope that he will recover soon. But one thing is for sure, as long as Lin Dan is active Lee will have a tremendous mental disadvantage in future encounters and winning from him at major tournaments like championships will be an almost impossible task. The future will tell.
Today was the first day of a short holiday. After 5 weeks of travelling around the world, 8 different flights and a lot of airports it’s time to store the rackets for a while and to recharge myself. Next week a new season begins with new challenges. September 1st the German Premier League starts and I will play for 1.BV Mülheim again. I am looking forward to that.
For now I wish everyone an enjoyable remainder of this summer and I thank all of you once again for the support, e mails, text messages and apps during the past weeks. It was absolutely awesome.