Jan O Jorgensen played his last international tournament at the recently concluded DANISA Denmark Open. His farewell match against compatriot Anders Antonsen was full of emotions and sentiments.
Jorgensen has made a lot of memories and achievements in his long career; he is the first European to win the Indonesia Open (2014) and the China Open (2016) and he was part of the 2016 Thomas Cup winner Team Denmark.
In a recent episode of Badminton Unlimited, he shared his memories of his long badminton journey and what made him finally decide to leave badminton.
The following is an excerpt from the interview.
The right decision at the right time.
Jorgensen admitted that he doubted himself a little at first. “I was kind of afraid that I couldn’t feel the adrenaline and all the desire to win because I already said I was done and I really am done. The tournament doesn’t make me second guess or anything. It’s just made feel that this is it’s the right decision that I have made.”
Emotional match.
At the end of the match, he could not hold back his emotions as the curtain was drawing on his career. He revealed that he tried his best as it was very well his last match.
The former world No. 2 said he knew the challenge that was in front of him, he said, “To be honest I knew that my chances were very slim (against Antonsen).”
Denmark Open is full of memories.
He said that the Denmark Open has “huge memories” for him. From the first time, he participated back in 2005 and then beating Peter Gade a few years later, for him to end at this tournament was as he put it “perfect.”
Even with the limited crowd, he said, “They were pretty amazing and pretty overwhelming.”
His stats compared to other greats.
“You know I’ve always done all I could for winning and I have tried to work up the spirit inside me when I didn’t play well. Sometimes it has made me win games where I wouldn’t have had any chance and big comeback and also cost me big titles and wins against especially the likes of Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and Chen Long.
I feel like I’ve been as strong as them but of course, stats-wise I’m way behind these guys and I’ve lost to them so many times. I think my desire has been like a good thing sometimes but it also been something which has blocked me.”
