China still badminton’s best, says Jan O Jorgensen, but rest of the world are catching up
Danish player says it’s too early to write off Chinese players despite their failure to win a title in their home tournament for the first time ever
Denmark’s newly crowned China Open champion Jan O Jorgensen said he believed Chinese players were still a major force in world badminton despite their failure to win a single title at their home tournament. But he warns that the rest of the world is catching up.
The world number six defeated Olympic champion Chen Long, of China, in the men’s singles final on Sunday as the home players were blanked from the top podium for the first time in 30 years of the tournament.
Jorgensen, who became the first non-Asian to win the event, admitted however that China were still the world’s best and the Fuzhou results may have been a one-off setback.
“This might happen just right after the Olympics as this is always a special time when you can see different players winning tournaments,” said Jorgensen, who was ranked number two earlier this year. “Many top Chinese players went to Rio and still did well in the Olympics. The China Open was my first major victory for more than two years and I won it after beating the Olympic champion. That’s why I was so happy as I was able to take the chance in Fuzhou.