Welcome to the blog of danish international badmintonplayer Hans-Kristian Vittinghus
Monday, 28 April 2008
Mission accomplished!
In the final I got off to a poor start, quickly trailing 5-1. I let him control the game and he didn't seem interested in giving me any chances to attack. I knew I would have to get the attack if I was to win, so I began to play more aggressively at the net, trying to force him to give me some high lifts I could attack on. This proved to be the right way to play him as I won 14 of the next 15 points! That handed me a 9 point lead which I managed to hold on to all the way through the set to win it 21-12. Playing this kind of game did cost me a lot of energy and as I was already feeling very sore in my legs from the previous days hard work, I was unsure if I could maintain the pace in the second set. I wanted to give it a go, but he seemed to be more aware of my tactics now and didn't let me control the game at the net. We traded point for point up until 8-8, then my coach asked me if I had the power and energy to start playing even more aggressively. I was breathing heavily and felt really bad in my legs, but I convinced myself I simply HAD to do as my coach said to win this match. Again it worked wonders for me and I won the next 6 points in a row! Up 16-10 I didn't think there was much work left to clinch the titel, but my opponent had different ideas and again took up the fight at the net. It made me nervous and I just gave away the lifts way to easily, not knowing how to react to his fight back. He levelled it again at 16-all. I could'nt believe I let him back into the game like that, but it made me even more eager to finish it off as I refused to lose like this... It made me forget about how tired I felt and all of a sudden I was able to play offensively again. I managed to stay calm for the last few points to take the right chances and clinch the tournament-victory 21-12 21-18.
This victory is very important to me! It tells me I'm now back at the level I had before getting injured in my knee. It also proves to the national coahces that I'm still here and they can count on me for the future. It's a great way to bounce back after the dissapointment of not going to the Europeans and the Thomas Cup finals. To be honest, I couldn't imagine a better way!
I'm off to have lunch with Rasmus Bonde and Kasper Henriksen. They came second in mens doubles, while Rasmus won the mixed double title. So we all have something to celebrate!
Thanks for reading,
HK
Sunday, 27 April 2008
4 down, 1 to go!
As most of you probably know by now, yesterday was another great day for me. I won both of my matches after hard fought 3-set games. In the first match of the day I felt very much in control of things throughout the second and third set, even though the scores were pretty close 14-21 21-13 21-17. It was a splendid match all the way through with some very good and long rallies. The match lasted 54 minutes, phew...
My semifinal was a different story. The first set was probably the easiest set I've played so far in the tournament as my opponent made loads of mistakes. Then he really raised his game and made me work very hard for all of my points. It worked out well for him and he forced the match into a decider. I got off to a good start in the third set, but when I was leading 9-6 I suddenly began to make easy mistakes. He won 7 points without a reply, so he was now in a commanding position at 13-9. He kept his lead up until 16-13, then I saved one of his smashed between my legs and ended up winning the rally. This seemed to change the momentum of the game to my side and I managed to wrap it up 21-18. I'm extremely pleased with the mental strenght I have been showing in this tournament, winning some sets and matches were I've been struggling a lot and trailing by quite a margin.
I'm now into the final where I have to play the european based chinese Wu Yunyong. He is a very good player and this will be another tough match for me, but I know I'm both physically and mentally up for it.
I came here to win the titel and that's what I'm going to do!
All the best,
HK
Saturday, 26 April 2008
1 step closer...
Late in the afternoon yesterday I made it into the quarterfinal by beating Kasper Ødum 21-13 22-20. We started off quite even with noone having a bigger lead than 2 points up until 8-7 for him. Then I played a few good rallies while he made some easy mistakes, giving me 7 straight points and a 14-8 lead. I felt very much in control of the game after this and build on the momentum to take the set 21-13. He never seemed like he could find a way through my defence in the first set, which obviously made me very confident going into the second set. This confidence was soon to be tested as the start of the second set was absolutely terrible! I was way to eager to finish off the rallies, not playing with the patience needed to suceed at this level. He got up 6-0 before I got back into my rythm. He did manage to keep a 5-point lead at the interval, but when I levelled it at 11-11 I never really doubted I would win the set... And so I did, winning it on my third set point 22-20.
Today I'm playing another dane, Martin Delfs, who is son of former world champion Flemming Delfs. Martin is not playing a lot of international tournaments, but is very active back in Denmark. I've never played him before, but I think it is a match I should win. Of course it wont be easy, but I believe I can do it and make it (at least) one step further than I did in Finland where I lost in the quarters.
That's it for now, keep comming back here for an update on how I get on today,
HK
Friday, 25 April 2008
A perfect start...
My quest for the title here in Holland got off to a perfect start as I won my first round match against fifth-seed Vladislav Druzchenko (WR62) 21-18 21-11 in just 23 minutes. The first set was pretty tight all the way, but when I was down 17-15 I managed to put together a nice streak of 4 points to make it 19-17 for me and eventually wrap it up 21-18. In the second set I got off to a flying start, dictating the pace in every rally. My opponent didn't have any answers and I was quickly 11-3 in front. After the break at 11, I was on "cruise control" for the victory and won the set 21-11 without spending too much energy.
A very nice match to start off with and a good win. Any player ranked inside the worlds top 70 is a good player, so winning by such a clear margin is very satisfying! Hopefully I can keep it up in my second round match against my compatriot Kasper Ødum. I've played him a few times, but our last encounter is dating back to november 2006. Back then I beat him and went on to win the tournament, so let's all hope I can repeat this feat! :)
Hope you are all doing well,
HK
Monday, 21 April 2008
Time to refocus!
Hi all,
It's now been more than a week since my last update, so it's about time to fill you all in on how things are progressing.
Last week was a bit frustrating for me as I was unable to train for a couple of days due to illness. Nothing serious, just an old fashioned cold! I'm still a bit snotty, but I'm able to train again with no problems at all. Another thing that made last weeks training poor was the fact I seemed to be missing my motivation. That's due to a lot of things: Missing out on the Europeans, the Thomas cup finals and a trip to asia this summer. All of this was a hard one to swallow. Not participating in the big events is never fun, but being told I'm not going for Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand Open this june was the biggest dissapointment. It's the coaches decision and I don't completely agree in it, but I do accept it. One thing is certain, I have now put all of this behind me and has refocused on my upcomming tasks. I'm fully motivated again, giving it a 100% in training and really trying my best to be positive about things.
Next up for me is the Victor Dutch International, which is to be played this week. My draw is pretty tough as I have fifth seed ukrainian Vladislav Druzhenko in the first round. I've never played him before, but he's definetly a tough opponent as he has been performing consistently on the european tour this year. If I should manage to get past this first hurdle, next up will probably be my compatriot Kasper Ødum. Kasper was ranked inside the worlds top 30 about 6 months ago, but is now out of top 100. Obviously not the best of seasons for him, but he has not been very active playing tournaments lately, so that will have to take some of the blame for his loss of form. Again not an easy task, I will for sure have my work cut out on day 1 of the competition! I will just have to focus on keeping my form from Finland a few weeks ago and maybe even improve a bit on it. Then I'm sure my chances of making it through the first two rounds are very good! I'm really looking forward to this tournament, hopefully it will be another step back in the direction of regaining my position amongst the worlds top 50 shuttlers...
My flight for Netherlands is on thursday afternoon, so I still have a few days of training and preparation ahead of me. I hope to get back on here before departure to keep you posted on how my preparations have been going, so stay tuned folks...
All the best,
HK
Thursday, 10 April 2008
No European Championships and no Thomas Cup finals...
Time to report to you guys again, even though there is not much positive to report about right now. Came back from Finland sunday evening and my legs have been feeling like solid rocks ever since. Of course this has affected my efforts in training this week. My physical training sessions on monday and yesterday went perfectly fine, where as most of my on-court sessions in some ways have been unsatisfying. Too many ups and downs have made it hard to maintain a high level throughout the sessions. I tend to get annoyed when I feel tired in my legs as I find it hard to accept I can't move around court with my usual speed. For the last few days this has on some occasions ruined my ability to focuse and stay positive and therefore caused too many downperiods. Good thing is I've been able to work with myself mentally and got a grip of things again to make sure the session weren't a complete waste of time. If we just go one year back, maybe even less, training sessions like these would have been a total waste for me. So it's not all bad, even though I would prefer things to run smoothly all the time!
Today the danish Thomas Cup finals team has been announced. Unfortunately I'm not part of the team. It's not a big shock to me as my results after returning to competitve action cleary haven't been great. 3 first-round losses and 1 quarter-final is not impressive. That being said I still had a slight hope of getting a spot on the team if they chose to go with 5 mens singles just as they did in the qualifications rounds. Didn't happen though as they went for only 4 mens singles; Kenneth Jonassen, Peter Gade, Joachim Persson and Jan Ø. Jørgensen. Now I have to settle for a role of being a reserve along with another guy, Peter Mikkelsen. So if Peter Gade doesn't get fit for the finals (he is currently suffering with a broken rib, but chances of him being fit for the finals are quite high), me or Peter Mikklsen will go instead.
Another big event I will miss out on is the upcomming European Championships. Again only 4 mens singles from Denmark get to go and with Peter Gade out of it due to his rib-problems, coaches decided Peter Mikkelsen would be the better choice for the 4th spot. This gives Mikkelsen a chance to prove his worth on the big stage and show he's the one to go for if Gade doesn't get fit for the Thomas Cup finals. Nothing I can do about it, I'll just have to work really hard in training and try to prove that I'm fit enough to go... Not really focussing on this matter right now though as I believe Gade will be back in action for Thomas Cup. Most important for me right now is just to keep working hard to make sure I stay on track for getting back into the worlds top 50 where I belonged before my knee injury!
Can't help thinking this injury is the reason why I'm not playing both the Europeans and Thomas Cup finals... Anyway, I can't do anything about it, I'm sure my time will come!
My weekend will be quite busy as my sister is getting married tomorrow and all of saturday is booked for a VERY late christmas lunch! It's been postponed several times as it's been really hard to find a time that could fit in to everyones calendar, but we kept on trying and refused to cancel it. So christmas lunch on saturday it is! So don't expect me to update this blog in the weekend...
Lastly I just want to wish all of the danish team the best of luck for the Europeans. Team event starts on saturday with Denmark being the heavy favourite for the gold. Go Denmark Go!
All the best,
HK
Saturday, 5 April 2008
No more luck!
Unfortunately I lost my match against Jan Ø. some hours ago, 21-12 21-12. I got off to a good start, but he soon found his rythm and never looked back when he got in front at 11-10. I'm a bit dissapointed with my mental attitude today as I wasn't mentally ready to work as hard as needed. Hats off to him though as he really played some excellent badminton and made it very difficult for me to score points! Overall I'm happy with my performance in this tournament. Playing 5 good matches in a row is something I haven't done since the beginning of september! Today I just lost to a better player on the day, I have to accept that. I'm sure I'll have my chances to beat him in the future!
I'm going back to the hall now to watch the semifinals.
All the best,
HK
Friday, 4 April 2008
2 matches, 2 victories
Things are really working out for me here in Helsinki! Today I had another splendid day and won both of my matches. I did have some trouble beating Brice Leverdez of France in my 2nd match of the day, but managed to come out on top 21-18 in the decider. You can read a lot more about todays matches in an article I wrote for badzine.info: http://www.badzine.info/content/view/954/
All of this means I'm into the quarterfinals now, where I have to play my compatriot and daily trainingpartner Jan Ø. Jørgensen. It will be a very tough match, but I'm confident I will win it if I can keep my focus throughout the match. Easier said than done, but I believe I can do it...
The pressure tomorrow will be on him as he is, by many, considered to be the next big thing comming out of Denmark and he currently holds a world ranking around 70, which is about 35 spots higher than mine. I don't care too much about my ranking right now though, as I know it would be a lot higher if I had been able to play all year!
We will see how I get on tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to keep up my level of play!
Good night,
HK
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Main draw!
A great but also long day has finally come to an end. I played my 3rd match of the day about 3 hours ago, where I beat Kasper Ipsen from Denmark quite easily 21-15 21-13. This was the perfect way to end my day, which has been absolutely fantastic! My game has been working extremely well ever since the first rally I played at 9.40 this morning. I beat all of my 3 opponents with no real trouble at all, which is of course very satisfying. Whenever I had a minor slip in concentration I quickly got it back and it really made it easier for me to overcome 3 matches in 1 day in such an impressive manner.
Tomorrow I'll play Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka (WR82). I don't really know anything about him as I've never seen him play. My good friend Jan Ø. Jørgensen played him some time ago and since he's also here in Finland I'll have a quick chat with him about what I can expect from Niluka. I'm not too worried though, as I will just have to focus on my own game. If I can maintain the focus I've had today I'm sure I will prevail again tomorrow. We will see...
Now I'm off to bed, follow the scores tomorrow at: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=20293&player=260
All the best,
HK
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
Finland, here I am!
I'm now in Helsinki, Finland where I'm staying at a very nice hotel only 15 minutes from the hall. Everything about this hotel is perfect, the food is great, the rooms are nice and tidy, internetconnection free and high speed and the showers are excellent! It's nice to stay at a place where everything just works perfectly, makes it a lot easier to focus 100% on what I'm here for: play badminton!
For the first time in a very long time I have to play qualifiers at a european circuit tournament. Not something I look forward to, but I guess it's not too bad either as it gives me a chance of getting some more games under my belt! First match tomorrow morning will be against malaysian Salim Sameon, who is based in Finland. He plays in the 2nd danish league so I know a bit about his game, but not too much. Given the few things I do know and his results taken into consideration I really believe this is a match I should win. I'll try not to put too much pressure on myself though. Will just try to go out there and get my game going, then the result will take care of itself I'm sure! If I beat Salim next up will be Koen Ridder from Netherlands whom I have played once before and beaten! If I succeed in doing so again, Kasper Ipsen from Denmark will probably be my final opponent in the qualifiers. I know him very well from the danish national training center where we both train every day. A really tough match as he is the type of player that just keeps on rallying forever! I have played him twice and won on both occasiones, but it's always hard to play guys you also train with on a daily basis. Obviously we both know each others game very well. Anyway, all of my focus right now is on Salim Sameon as I should really just take this one game at the time. That's the only way to overcome 3 matches in one day!
You can follow the scores on: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=20293&player=260
Not sure how much time I will have tomorrow as I hope my schedule will be pretty busy, but hopefully I'll be able to pop in and tell you all a bit about my matches...
Thanks for reading,
HK