As Jorgensen continues his farewell journey at the Denmark Open, he left his mark on the emerging young talent of Toma Junior Popov.
Toma Junior Popov, the older of the exciting French brother duo, is a double European Junior Championship gold medallist from 2017. After a simple first-round victory against Canada’s B.R. Sankeerth, he found himself up against the experienced Dane, a previous Denmark Open winner.
Popov made a very bright start in the opening game, but the experience of Jorgensen, much like in his opening match, shone through. Popov, however, flew away with the second game to force a decider. Explaining how this looked from his perspective, Popov said.
-I tried to manage the rallies to not push a lot into the flat game because he was better than me there. I was leading 7-2 in the opening game, but after that, he changed his rhythm. But in the second game, he played a lot slower, which gave me an opportunity to impose my game.
Same level every day
After a valiant effort in the decider from Popov, it was Jorgensen who delighted the crowd by pulling away to victory. Jorgensen has had a glittering career at the very top, and the young Popov is just a few years into his professional senior career. Asked what one thing he would like to take from Jorgensen’s game and put into his, he thoughtfully replied.
-I would take his badminton wisdom. The way he can manage the match, save energy and be there at the right moment to kill the match. He knows when he has the right opportunity, and he finishes it.
This was a big step up for Popov and he vows to learn a lot from this experience.
-I have learnt about the consistency needed here, to be at the same level every day throughout the week. Also, we had to arrive earlier due to the COVID-19 restrictions, so I will take a lot of experience from this moving forward.