Cathrine Rosengren, Denmark’s top Para badminton player and one of the big medal hopefuls in the SU5 category for the Paralympics in Tokyo, took the opportunity to put her game to the test at the Denmark Masters 2021.
Rosengren suffered the injury in the latter stages of the World Para Badminton Championships in August of 2019, putting in doubt the rest of her Paralympic qualification campaign. However, she managed to come through strongly and is gearing up for the special occasion – the debut participation of Para badminton at the Paralympics.
In qualification at the Denmark Masters, Rosengren played Sofia Slosiarikova. The Slovakian got off to a strong start by winning the opening game, only for Rosengren to begin her comeback. Once again down in the decider, Rosengren did not give up.
-I was a few points behind in the third game. It was 16-10 down or something like that but I'm happy how I fought my way back into the match. It’s been a while since I have played tournaments as normally, I play Para badminton tournaments and I feel a little bit difference between them but I am really happy about the win here.
Pow pow pow
This was a valuable opportunity to sharpen her weapons before Tokyo.
-I just tried to follow the plan that I have been working on with my coach, trying to play how I have to play when I play Para badminton, moving the shuttle around and getting the long rallies because normally I want to attack a lot, just ‘pow pow pow’. If I slow it down my opponent will have to move a lot.
Rosengren could not be happier to get this level of competition as part of her preparation.
-I am so happy that there is this tournament and I got to play it, because yes, I can play in my club, but it’s just not the same as in competition. I am able to play against good players at a high level but that is great for me.
Following Axelsen’s gold
The Dane was in awe of the achievement of Viktor Axelsen when he won the gold in Tokyo. Rosengren, one of the top SU5 players in the world hopes to follow in his footsteps and bring back gold for Denmark.
-It was so nice to see the Olympics and that Viktor got the gold and I hope that I can get the gold medal too. The Paralympics is the only reason why I started playing Para badminton back in 2016 and I am just so excited for it.
Rosengren knows several Olympic athletes who went and experienced the Olympics and she says she will be talking a lot with them about the atmosphere and how it was. She is certainly going all-in for what will be an unforgettable experience.