Jan Louda triggered fairly the stir on the Sudirman Cup when he gave Czech Republic a 1-0 lead in opposition to perennial group Championship powerhouse Korea, on Sunday. The 25-year-old noticed his group go down 4-1 to the previous champions, however he had nicked a degree after beating Cho Geonyop 21-16, 21-16.
Whereas doubles is Korea’s strongest swimsuit at all times, new coach Park Joo Bong would possibly’ve taken Czechia a tad evenly fielding Cho, ranked 142 in opposition to Jan, ranked 103. Jan has a profession excessive of 39. Often it’s the little recognized Koreans who instantly spurt up at group occasions and trigger a stir. This time they have been on the receiving finish.
Jan has earlier wins in opposition to Weng Hong Yang of China and Ng Yong Tze of Malaysia as he turned part of the primary cohort of 4 Czech gamers to qualify for Paris Olympics. The east European nation has little historical past within the sport, and Jan took to badminton following his father and elder brother into the game.
He was mesmerised by the game watching Lin Dan win the 2008 Olympics. “I keep in mind the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. I used to be watching Czech gamers like Petr Koukal and Kristina Gavnholt; I keep in mind sitting in entrance of the TV and supporting them,” he had informed BWF final yr. “I additionally did different sports activities like swimming and snowboarding, however badminton was at all times No.1 in our household,” he added.
The badminton corridor was quarter-hour by bus, and Jan’s first reminiscence of badminton was taking part in together with his father. “I used to go together with him on the bus to the corridor,” he informed BWF.
“4 years in the past once I began to change into a greater participant and began to be extra aggressive on the worldwide degree, I used to be beating gamers who had participated within the Olympics, so I felt I could be the identical. If I can beat them, I will also be there.”
The hyper bouncy participant recognized to ambush unsuspecting opponents together with his power, has needed to pay for that hoppity type with accidents. “I face accidents, in order that was the toughest half, however I’m glad I may get by way of. I had an an infection in my Achilles final summer time (2023), it took two months and I couldn’t put together properly for the World Championships. However that’s a part of sport, so I attempted to be constructive. It was after some good tournaments I had, so I felt OK, I may afford these two months and are available again and I didn’t really feel it could have an effect on qualification,” he informed BWF after making the Paris minimize.
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Jan spends most of his coaching time in Czechia working with a Spanish coach. “Generally I want to search out some sparring to get to the next degree. Generally I’m going over to France. Additionally I used to be in Dubai with Viktor (Axelsen) for one week after the Thailand Masters. Viktor had 4 weeks of coaching earlier than the French Open, so it was actually arduous. We’ve actually good circumstances now in Czechia. I additionally play league matches in France. It’s good to play there, as a result of the French league is likely one of the finest in Europe,” he informed BWF.
He would have fun his massive Sudirman second saying he was joyful to register a primary level in opposition to Korea for his nation.
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