Photo: Mak Chiu Wo // Badmintonphoto
National coach at NETC in Brøndby, Jesper Hovgaard, is nominated by Badminton Denmark for Badminton Europe’s ‘BEC Coach of the Year’ award for his contribution to the success of Danish mixed doubles in 2025.
In the past year, Danish mixed doubles has been a true adventure that has unfolded on the international badminton scene, which has resulted in Denmark now having two world-class mixed doubles: Jesper Toft/Amalie Magelund and Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Bøje – both pairs have excelled on several occasions in the past year, and are currently number 12 and 10 in the world rankings.
Their success can be attributed, among other things, to national coach Jesper Hovgaard, who is responsible for the mixed doubles training in Brøndby on a daily basis.
During last year, the two mixed doubles pairs were number 100 and 176 in the world rankings, and it has been Jesper Hovgaard’s task to change that – which, it must be said, has been accomplished.
In the past year, Hovgaard has had to navigate the challenge that Mathias Christiansen’s quarantine gave the couple and ensure that the couple could also see a future in international badminton on the other side of the quarantine. In addition, Jesper Hovgaard has managed to develop the category massively throughout 2025 with his many years of badminton experience, unique knowledge and, not least, his humane qualities. The combination of these talents has allowed him to develop some tactically strong pairings that can work together both on and off the pitch.
His technical skills and coaching qualities are instrumental in the fact that Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund became a top-10 world-class pair in 2025, who won, among other things, the Super 300 tournament Oleans Masters and the European Championship, while Alexandra Bøje and Mathias Christiansen came back to international badminton in something of a comeback, when they started out by winning the Macau Open and then the Hylo Open, and have thus proven that they belong at the top of the world.
All these results could not be achieved without a skilled coach on the sidelines. That is why Jesper Hovgaard is rightly nominated for the award as ‘Coach of the Year’ in Badminton Europe.
Read the full recommendation from Elite and Sports Manager in Badminton Denmark, Jens Meibom, here.
The winner of Badminton Europe’s ‘Coach of the Year’ will be announced on 23 April 2026 at the 13th edition of the BEC Awards, which will be held in Horsens in connection with Thomas & Uber Cup.
