Saturday, July 5, 2008

Tine Rasmussen

I decided to write a few words about a Danish badminton player, Tine Rasmussen as I found she is rather unique in her own way. We haven't heard a lot of a woman badminton player from Denmark since Camilla Martin retired from the badminton scene.



She might not be popular and as beautiful as China's Xie Xingfang but definitely an interesting character

She started to caught my attention last year when she won the Japan Open against all odds (it is not an easy task to win in Japan as the organizer would prefer a player to win the tournament using their famous brand, Yonex). This year she had won 3 super series, Malaysian Open, All England and most recently the Singapore Open. She is 29 this year and I guess the European badminton player's game mature a bit late.

At the recent Singapore Open, at the semi final stage, she was against Malaysian Wong Mew Choo. It was in my observation if she lose the second set, she will lose the third as I can see the tiredness in her eyes. Lucky for her, she sailed through to the final. I think the heat and humidity got into her as she is not used to this type of climate.

I notice she had a habit of touching/tapping the base of her shoes with her right hand. In fact I saw her doing so every time when a service is won or lose. I not sure any of you notice that. Lucky charm perhaps?


Another interesting fact is she is using racquet and equipment from Forza where most leading badminton players are using Yonex. At first I thought it is an Italian brand as Forza sound Italian. I did some research and found out the brand is based in the UK. Well, at least it is the skill that matters, not the racquet as I highlighted before.

She has some interesting skill, footwork and smash and could be a contender for the Beijing Olympic. I just think she need to work on her endurance and perhaps get acclimatize to the weather in Beijing if she is to stand a chance against the Chinese players.

Good luck!

3 comments:

Zooropa said...

I think the woman badminton player who impressed me a lot is still go to the veteran Ms. Susisusanti.(not sure the spelling)

Dora:)

Johnny Ong said...

good observation esp the beauty part hahaha

Andrew said...

I think Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo is prettier than Xie.