eastday.com Jonassen maintains European bid for glory Danish Kenneth Jonassen spoiled Asian party in the men's singles as the second seed pulled off a 15-8 and 17-16 victory over NG Wei of Hong Kong, China, on Thursday in Birmingham to reach the quarterfinals of the 13th world badminton championships. The Dane is currently the only European player left in the men' s singles, with all the other seven slots occupied by Asians. "(It is) no big surprise," Danish head coach Steen Pedersen said of the Asian-dominated sport. Jonassen said that he would not feel any pressure for being the only one from Europe. "I am just thinking I am happy, I am just thinking of playing my own game," said the 29-year-old. Jonassen will vie for the semifinal spot with Chinese fifth- seed Xia Xuanze, who advanced after beating compatriot Lin Dan 15- 10 and 15-3 in the third round. "It is going to be very difficult to play them," said Jonassen as Xia was playing Lin. "They are very fast, they look like being on top of their game." Jonassen has been regarded as one of the few European players who could challenge Asian dominance. On his way to the quarterfinals, he had underlined his strength by stopping Malaysian star Lee Tsuen Seng at the first round. One of Jonassen's merits lies with his stamina, which made difference when he took 92 minutes to score a three-set victory over Lee Tsuen Seng. Prior to the world championships, a test on Jonassen found that he has sort of a body of long-distance runner. "He has very very good stamina," said Pedersen. "He also improves a lot in his head and he has strong mind now, " said Pedersen. Xinhua
"body of long-distance runner" he-he... He has the best stamina of all the danish players, that's true. His danish colleagues call him "the Hook" because oftentimes he is able to return even the hardest of smashes (even from behind himself) by just using the lower part of his arm and his wrist. He has tremendous power in his forearm.
Indeed it does sound Japanese, but it's 100% Swedish. They are located just outside Malmö in south of Sweden. A funny coincidence: I phoned them once last year to ask a few questions about when their new catalog was coming out, and out of curiosity I also asked what racquet model Jonassen was using. The guy (who was the company president, by the way) simply answered: "Kenneth? I know the model but I don't quite remember the weight version. But he's sitting right here beside me. I'll ask him right away." I could actually hear Kenneth answer my question in the background... What are the odds of THAT happening if you were to phone Yonex?
I believe he just prolonged his contract with Fukuda. There were also some writing about a partnership in the company at the end of his career.
