Injuries prevent Antonsen and Søgaard from participating in the Sudirman Cup Badminton Denmark

Badminton photo

maj 9, 2023 14:00
Written by Ronni Burkal Elkjær

Lasse Mølhede joins Denmark’s Sudirman Cup squad, which leaves for China on Wednesday.

Denmark unfortunately has to do without Anders Antonsen and Frederik Søgaard at this year’s Sudirman Cup – WC for mixed teams.

Both players are suffering from minor injuries, which means they are not ready to participate in the championship, which begins at the end of this week in the Chinese city of Suzhou.

Click here to secure a ticket for the WC 2023 in the Royal Arena on 21-27 August

This upsets head national coach Kenneth Jonassen, who together with national coach Jesper Hovgaard make up Denmark’s national coaching team at the championship.

– Of course, we had hoped that Frederik (Søgaard, ed.) and Anders (Antonsen, ed.) would be ready, but they have some small blemishes that they have not completely gotten rid of. As a starting point, we must be able to use all players 100 percent, and therefore we assess that they are not competitive enough to leave. At the same time, we also do not want to worsen their injury situation. We are of course very sorry about that, both on their behalf and on our behalf, says Kenneth Jonassen.

Instead of Søgaard and Antonsen, Badminton Denmark’s sports management has selected Lasse Mølhede. He was initially listed as non-travelling.

Read also: 16 players selected for the WC at home

Should Lasse Mølhede get on the pitch at the Sudirman Cup on 14-21. May, he will make his debut on the Sudirman Cup national team.

He has previously represented Denmark’s men’s national team at the Thomas Cup in 2022, where he helped Denmark to a bronze medal.

Denmark’s best badminton results at the Sudirman Cup are bronze medals. The most recent came in 2013.

Denmark’s Sudirman Cup squad now consists of the following 13 players:

Gentlemen

Viktor Axelsen
Rasmus Gemke (can make Sudirman Cup debut)
Kim Astrup
Anders Skaarup
Lasse Mølhede (can make Sudirman Cup debut)
Mathias Christiansen
Mathias Thyrrius

Ladies

Mia Blichfeldt
Line Christophersen
Sara Thygesen
Maiken Fruergaard
Alexandra Boje
Amalie Magelund

Non travelling: Line Kjærsfeldt

Stab

Kenneth Jonassen, national coach
Jesper Hovgaard, national coach
Marlene Søby, physiotherapist (Team Denmark)
Mads Brink, physical trainer (Team Denmark)
Benjamin Jensen, performance analyst (Team Denmark)
Jens Meibom, team manager
Jonas Kildegaard, press and communication

Denmark will play its first match at Sudirman Cup 2023 on Sunday 14 May at 11.00 Danish time against Singapore. After this, Egypt await on Tuesday 16 May at 11.00, before the defending champions from China await on Thursday 18 May at 11.00.

Read also: Denmark loses Sudirman Cup quarter-final to China: – Great credit to the players

Fact:

Sudirman Cup 2023 will be played in China on 14-21 May at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre. It is only 50 km from the Kunshan Sports Centre, where the Danish men’s national team won the Thomas Cup in 2016.

Denmark last won a Sudirman Cup medal in 2013. Here it was bronze after a semi-final defeat to China 1-3. Denmark has never won the Sudirman Cup.

The four groups for Sudirman Cup 2023:

Group A: China, DenmarkSingapore, Egypt

Group B: Indonesia, Thailand, Germany, Canada

Group C: Malaysia, Taiwan, India, Australia

Group D: Japan, Korea, France, England

It will be the first time ever at a Sudirman Cup that Denmark meets Egypt. It will also be only the second time that the Danes will face Singapore at the WC for mixed teams. The only match between them dates back to 2013, when Denmark won 4-1.

Conversely, Denmark have faced China eight times and have never managed to beat the winningest Sudirman Cup nation.

Click here to see Denmark’s previous results at the Sudirman Cup

Denmark’s game plan at Sudirman Cup 2023:

Sunday 14 May at 11.00 Danish time: Denmark-Singapore

Tuesday 16 May at 11.00 Danish time: Denmark-Egypt

Thursday 18 May at 11.00 Danish time: Denmark-China

Tags: Anders Antonsen, Frederik Søgaard, Kenneth Jonassen, Lasse Mølhede, Sudirman Cup
Category: Elite, Front page, National team, Medal, News