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Koljonen: Too simple and easy to read
Date: 4/2/2020 2:04 PM
Published by : BEC Staff

Who steps up next? Filling the shoes of a prominent player who has been at the top for so long can be a big challenge. But Koljonen has aspirations of doing just that for Finland. 


The face of Finnish of badminton for many years had been Ville Lång. An eccentric spirited character with a unique playing style. A major highlight was his three-game match against Lee Chong Wei at London 2012 Olympics. After his retirement in 2016, the batten was passed on to the youth. Koljonen, 26, was then in is early 20’s and set about working towards reaching similar heights for Finnish men’s singles. 


That very year, Koljonen won the Norwegian International title, laying down an early marker. Having stepped up a level, the titles have not there, but the good results are. In 2020, the left-hander reached the quarterfinals of the Swedish Open and performed a clean sweep of straight game victories in the group stages of the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships. However, he knows what he needs to be doing to start winning tournaments when saying. 


-I think to win challenge tournaments I need to improve all areas of my game, but maybe my biggest weakness in my game is that it is sometimes too simple and easy to read. 


Read: Jille: The biggest change came personally


Thinking about the next step 

Kaljonen currently sits at 77 in the race to Tokyo Olympic qualification rankings and would be going to the Olympics if things stay the same. However, Finnish compatriot Eetu Heino is not too far behind at 89. Subsequently, Koljonen aims to build on his ranking further and shares his views on getting to the Olympics. 


-I think the next step would be to reach 50 or 40 in the world ranking. I don’t want to think about big goals, as I am more thinking about the next step and when I reach that, I put a new step in my plan. I have always thought qualifying for the Olympics as a step, but just to qualify to Olympics is not my goal as it wouldn’t be a highlight of my career. 


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