Matthias Boe and Carsten Mogensen have won their second consecutive Super Series Tournament. After having defeated the Olympic champions of 2008 in the finals last week in Odense, today they won the final of the French Open in Paris. What exactly is their strength?
To begin with, their first three, four strokes are very good. Especially Matthias creates a lot of pressure at the net and knows how to place the shuttles in such a way that Mogensen can be as effective as possible in the backfield. Apart from that Mogensen also has a solid defence and is able, even under pressure, still to place the shuttles in all corners of the court. Both have the ability to think one step ahead and they can easily find “the empty corners” of their opponents.
But that’s not all. In fact these guys are a strong team. Even when it’s difficult for a moment they support each other and that’s clever! The example of this is their victory at the Bitburger Open in September. The Bitburger is a Grand Prix Gold tournament, one level below the Super Series. So a piece of cake for these guys and being second on the world ranking they were supposed to win this tournament easily. But that proved not to be easy at all. In the first round, they were very close to elimination. It was very hard work. They didn’t show the spirit they usually show at Super Series. Under those circumstances it was very clever and remarkable to see how they formed a front at important moments and managed to win a third game by 21-19. Also in the semi-final they were almost out, but yet again they always touch each other lightly. A box or a high five! A sign of unconditional support to one another. Radiate that they won’t lose the match, even if they are not playing well. Moreover, it is a gesture to the opponents which will not make them happy. The final than was a formality against the same opponents they had in Paris this afternoon. Only true champions can act like this!