Dubai: Thomas Lund, former Danish badminton star, is a rare example of successful sportsperson graduating into administration. One of the game’s Hall of Famers, Lund is now the secretary of Badminton World Federation (BWF) and was a special guest last week at the Peace and Sport Cup hosted at the Etisalat Academy.
Known as one of the world’s leading doubles specialists in the 1990s. Lund was a silver medallist in both men and mixed doubles at the 1991 IBF World Championships. In 1993 and 1995, he won consecutive gold medals in mixed doubles at the IBF World Championships, the first with Sweden’s Catrine Bengtsson and the second with his compatriot Marlene Thomsen.
Lund won five consecutive mixed doubles titles with three different partners at the now defunct World Badminton Grand Prix. At the prestigious All England Championships, he captured titles in both men’s doubles (in 1993) and mixed doubles (in 1993 and 1995).
Lund was elected to the World Badminton Hall of Fame in 2008. A firm supporter of former players getting involved in sports administration, Lund commenced his role as Chief Operating Officer of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in June 2009 and then in May 2012, he was redesignated as General Secretary of BWF.
Following are the excerpts of an exclusive interview with Gulf News:
GULF NEWS: Do you feel badminton has evolved sufficiently in its appeal to the general public?
THOMAS LUND: I think the sport has evolved in many different ways. If you look at what happens on court, the sport has surely become faster and more physical while testing the endurance of players. The players are in a much better shape now and they are able to do more with their body.
It’s amazing to see what these players can do on court today compared to my generation. Due to these on-court developments, there is a high intensity to watch the sport. This is a good thing to see the sport grow in its appeal to the fans. We cannot stop now. We need to develop our sport even more with particular emphasis on how badminton can get better outside the court.
What sort of development strategy would you have for badminton?
There is a positive development going on around the grassroots level. Any tournament helps bring people together.
For instance, the Arab countries have shown a lot of appetite for badminton. Slowly we can see the grassroots structure coming together. And all this is so exciting for our sport. Badminton is becoming a truly global sport where there is a grassroots programme in place.
And besides the players coming upfrom either Asia or Europe there are players from other countries and regions as well. It will take a long time before other regions are at the same level as Asia. But we know we are headed in the right direction and we are progressing. So it really boils down to development at three levels: on court as a sport, out of court as a commercial venture and development of the age categories.
Does it mean that the concept that badminton is more of a recreational sport has changed?
I agree that in some countries it is considered a recreational sport. But I think the sport is moving upwards and there is an interest at the professional level now as well.
In Indonesia and Malaysia it has always been such a serious sport. When we consider all things I think badminton has a very high rating. We have probably had a very niche profile before but that is definitely changing to become a more commercial and global sport.
Do you feel that this part of the world has caught up with the rest of the world in the development of badminton?
During my several visits here, all my conversations have been centred around how this sport can be made a serious option for sportspersons.
The Dubai Sports Council has been serious. This is a very dynamic area and the profile of the region and sport is growing at an amazing pace. I’m sure this place will create the right sounds for the rest of the region. Badminton is really good for this area.
To start with, it is played indoors, it is easy to play, it is not a high-cost sport and it appeals to anybody and every body. Badminton is a cradle to grave sport. We are certainly excited about the changes taking place here. I admit we have not been able to create enough attention on badminton, but what we are doing right now will definitely help our sport take off here.
Do you have any specific plans for the Gulf area?
We have arranged different plans and these are all now coming together. We started off with the Peace and Sport Cup. I reckon this tournament will be the spark. At the end of the year we have the World Super Series Finals (from December 10-14). We will work on a development set-up where we will put a proper structure for development of badminton.
We’ve seen that there are a lot of people playing this sport in this region and there different clubs here and there are tournaments going on and all this is not under a federation or an association. And yet it is happening.
It is organised and people come and enjoy it. So all we need to do now is put on the extra two layers and this region will really kick off with badminton as well.
Would you set any sort of time frame for this sort of plan?
Its always difficult to put a time frame for a thing like this. We’ve made a serious start and it is just a matter of time when the fruits of this development will be seen.
We are not starting from scratch. There are a lot of structures in place already. And each time I come here I can feel that there is a lot of interest from everyone in the sport.
There’s clearly some interest here and that is good. We are trying to assess the situation and I get a feeling that things could go pretty quick for this region. The structure is there and there is the ability to develop something fast as well. We will try to work on these structures and make things happen.
Are you in agreement with this idea that more sportspersons should be involved in governing sports rather than officials who have never played sports?
Oh yes, the more the better. We want all talent to come together for the sake of their sport, whether they have played at the higher or lower levels, it does not matter. It is good to get players and all like-minded persons to get involved. All those who have a big heart should come forward.
