A new rivalry for European badminton dominance…

Denmark’s badminton dynasty, especially in Europe, is unquestionable. Since 1988, when they won 4 out of 5 medals at the European championships, Denmark has been the most dominant force in European badminton. Could that domination be coming to an end?

Sport often comes in cycles. Nothing lasts forever, whether that is for players, teams, coaches, or countries. This is the same in badminton. Europe has seen two cycles of domination. First from England 1968 – 1986 where they often won 3 titles at every European Championship. Danish domination followed this from 1988 onwards.

Denmark had already been competitive before 1988 but never dominated, always the understudy to the English.

This changed in 1988 when Denmark claimed 4 titles at the European Championships for the first time in their history. Denmark was able to confirm their era of domination when they locked out the podium at the 1996 European championships sweeping all 5 titles. Legendary players with Paul Erik Hoyer Larsen, Camilla Martin, Thomas Lund, Jon-Holst Christensen, Lisbeth Stuer-Lauridsen, Marlene Thomsen, Michael Sogaard, and Rikke Olsen were some of yesteryear stars of European badminton.

Since this historic championship, Denmark has been the irresistible force in European badminton securing more than half of all the European titles since. They have dominated the European Mixed Team Championships and had consistent success on the world tour with more players than any other European country ranked in the top 10.

This might be about to change!

Over the past 7 years, France has focused on building a team to compete in Europe, while many in Denmark see their nation becoming complacent. Fewer prospects are making the progression from juniors to seniors at the highest level. Remember when Danish badminton legend Peter Gade went to coach the French national team in 2015?

A statement of intent…..

In 2015 at the European Junior championships, a great gauge of each nation’s talent system, Denmark won 4 of the 5 titles. This was the Anders Antonsen, Mia Blickfeldt, Alexander Bond, Joel Eipe, Julie Dawall Jakobsen, and Ditte Hansen generation of players. Only 2 years later, at the next junior championships in 2017, France not only won their first-ever team title but their first two individual titles as well. Denmark? for only the second time in their history only won 1 title.

Things started in 2015 to 2017, but they haven’t stopped there. This was no upset. It was the start of the trend, with Denmark only winning one title in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022. What about 2024? Denmark won no individual titles, only a mixed team title, a steady downward trend over 10 years.

You know what is coming… France at that same time? In 2017 – 2 titles, 2018 – 3 titles, 2020 – 1 title, 2022 – 2 titles, and this year 2024 – 3 titles. This isn’t domination yet but it very soon could be. The French are coming!

A glimpse into the future of European badminton!

The junior stage is where we see the players of the future coming through. This makes it important to see competitive players there. It shows who will be competitive in the next 10 years on the world tour. This is what we started to see this past season, nine years after France took their first junior championship titles.

Toma Junior Popov and Thom Gicquel were those players, winning the singles title and men’s doubles title. Where are they today? Thom Gicquel is the highest-ranked European mixed doubles player with Delphine Delrue, constantly in the top 20. Toma jr Popov is one of three French players in the men’s singles top 25 (as of December 2024).

At the 2024 European championships, France won their first-ever senior titles in mixed doubles and women’s doubles. Will this now continue the same trajectory when the established players of Viktor Axelsen, Anders Antonsen, Kim Astrup, and Anders Rasmussen get closer to retirement? In addition, the French young guns of Alex Lanier, Christo Popov, Toma Popov, Arnaud Merkle, Anne Tran, Margot Lambert, Thom Gicquel, and Delphine Delrue hit their peak….

Who will be the top European badminton nation in 2028?