Badminton battle averted
A scheduling conflict, which could have seen Denmark’s top badminton stars choosing to play in the Indian Badminton League instead of the World Badminton Federation’s World Championships in China this summer, has been resolved. The Indian tournament’s $1 million prize money had prompted a tweet from Olympic medalists Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen saying “possibly our last national training”.
Russia here we come
The Danish men’s curling team finished fourth at the 2013 World Championship in Canada on Sunday. The team lost the bronze medal game 7-6 to Scotland, which means the men will be joining their female compatriots at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia, following their successful qualification last month. The men finished the tournament with seven wins and four losses. Sweden beat Canada 8-6 in the final.
Handy handout for Helle
Helle Frederiksen, a participant in the 2012 Olympics, has won three medals in the last four weeks on the triathlon pro-circuit in the US. On Monday, the Dane finished first in the Nautica South Beach Triathlon, one minute clear of the field. The win came with $10,000 in prize money, which will undoubtedly come in handy as Frederiksen recently refused support from Team Denmark in protest at the team’s administration.
Big fish number two
The Danish Swimming Federation has hired Nick Juba, 61, as head coach of the national team. The Brit joins Australia’s Shannon Rollason, who was recently appointed head coach of the National Training Centre. Juba served for 20 years as head coach of Hatfield Swimming Club, one of the leading clubs in England, and has also sat on the British Olympic evaluation committee. Juba will start his new job on May 6.
Conquering Little Hell
Young cyclist Mads Petersen, 17, won the Junior Paris-Roubaix race in France on Monday. This was the second time that the Dane had taken part in the 129.7km one-day event, which sees riders aged under 18 cycle 30km on cobble stones, which might explain why the senior version, the Paris-Roubaix, is known as the ‘hell of the north’. Last year the event was won by another Dane, Mads Würtz Schmidt.
Absolute winners
Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard were last weekend handed the Absolute Winner trophy at the 44th Trofeo Princesa Sofia, the third event in the ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit. The Absolute trophy is awarded to sailors with the best average scores of the regatta. The Danish duo took three out of four medals in their class. Meanwhile, their compatriots Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen finished third.
