NOS Sport•gisteren, 09:55
Caljouw: ‘Missing the European Championship medal and Olympic ticket has taken a toll’
Mark Caljouw does not beat around the bush: the 28-year-old badminton player has been going through life with “pain and sadness”, as he puts it, since the end of June. All because of two missed match points in the quarter-finals at the European Games.
If he had used one in Krakow, he would have won the Olympic ticket for Paris and he would have finally been able to hang that coveted European senior medal in his trophy cabinet.
Traces left behind
But things turned out differently and that has left its mark, as was evident last weekend at the Dutch Open. The tournament in Den Bosch had been a great opportunity to shine in front of their own audience, but they could not enjoy Caljouw for long in the Maaspoort. He was seeded first in the men’s singles, but was eliminated on his first appearance.
“What went wrong? To be very honest: quite a lot. I am in a difficult phase mentally. The fact that I missed my ticket for Paris by one point at the European Games had a lot of impact on me.”
Orange PicturesMark Caljouw playing for DKC in the premier league
“My coach and I had done everything we could to win a medal there and if you don’t make it on one point… Everything was aimed at that. I would have achieved almost everything I wanted to achieve. I still have a lot of time there. a lot of pain and sadness. I have to get through it, but that takes quite a bit of time.”
Full of misunderstanding
The badminton player from Rijswijk, the only Dutchman in singles who can compete with the international top, accompanies his words with a faint smile. But in doing so he only camouflages his true feelings.
Two years ago in Tokyo, Mark Caljouw was the first Dutch badminton player in singles at the Olympic Games since 1996. He had a real chance of a podium place, but lost it by losing in the eighth finals to the unseeded Kevin Cordon from Guatemala.
“I still can’t laugh about it,” Caljouw makes no bones about it. “After the match I was full of incomprehension. I had implemented everything we had worked on. I can’t blame myself in that respect. If only I could do that. Then I knew I could still change that.”
After the tournament, Caljouw went on holiday with his girlfriend, but that didn’t help much. “It really affected me. I tried to switch it off, but I still think about it every time I’m on the court. There is still a blockage somewhere, preventing me from playing completely freely. Because I don’t want to feel the pain of giving it my all again, it seems.”
AFPMark Caljouw in action in 2021 during the Olympic Games in Tokyo
A frustrating experience for Caljouw. “I am fitter than ever. I am playing very well in training and I am also doing very well in competitions. Only when I play an individual tournament does something come to my mind that I am currently I can’t switch off yet. I am trying hard, together with a mental coach, to become the Mark that I was again.”
Regaining pleasure and passion
Caljouw can still make it to the Olympic Games, but it won’t be easy. Direct qualification places can be earned during the European Championships in Saarbrücken in mid-April. He can also go to Paris via the ‘cleaned’ world rankings, but then Caljouw has to be among the best twenty players, while he is just outside the top sixty.
The fact that the doubles Selena Piek/Robin Tabling, who won gold at the European Games, and Debora Jille/Cheryl Seinen, once again the best in women’s doubles at the Dutch Open, are also making a serious bid for Olympic participation and therefore have the same goal. yes support.
EPASelena Piek and Robin Tabing with a gold medal in Krakow
“Yes, for sure. Robin is a good friend of mine. We talk about that a lot. It is only right that we hopefully go to Paris with as large a group as possible and put badminton on the map. I certainly hope that both duos make it. In any case, they are in better shape than I am.”
“I’m going to work with my mental coach again. That is very important. So that I can see through it, so to speak. I have to get rid of that blockage. Find my pleasure and passion again in the sport, in badminton , in the matches.”
“If I can give it my all again, I certainly believe I can still qualify. But the most important thing at the moment is my mental health.”
2023-10-18 08:01:29
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