Badminton players with long hair to Tokyo because of their own protocol | Sport

sport">“We followed our own protocol two weeks before leaving for Tokyo. In the weeks before the Games, for example, we didn’t go to the hairdresser, we didn’t grab a terrace and we avoided many friends. We can look each other straight in the eye and don’t blame each other,” said Mark Caljouw (26), who participates in the men’s singles.

sport">Shortly before the start of the Games, the Dutch delegation was startled by three corona cases. For two athletes, skateboarder Candy Jacobs and taekwondoka Reshmie Oogink, the event is already over.

sport">The Dutch badminton players arrived in Japan later than planned because “further analysis of a test result from one of the members of the badminton delegation” was necessary. As a result, a training camp in the Japanese city of Chiba was canceled.

sport">“My bags were already packed and then I got a call at the last minute,” said Caljouw. “We waited in suspense and it was far from ideal. It was a restless run-up.”

sport">In addition, the national coach of the doubles players, Ruud Bosch (36), lost his father shortly before the Games. Caljouw: „I get on well with him and in a small group like ours it is more alive when something like this happens. Ruud is a young coach and he will probably experience the Games at some point.”

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Appreciation

sport">Caljouw feels respect for his sport in Tokyo. “We as badminton players get the appreciation here that football players in Europe get,” says 26-year-old Caljouw. “When we travel to Asia, a smile appears on our face. This is ‘our’ side of the world, we say. Indonesia, China and Japan, those are real badminton countries.”

“When we travel to Asia, a smile appears on our face”

sport">According to Caljouw, badminton players in Asia are “treated like stars.” “When we get off somewhere it is fuller than full and sometimes we have to go to the location under police escort. Yes, you really taste the appreciation here. That’s why it’s such a shame that no audience can be present. The number 1 in the world, Kento Momota, is a Japanese and otherwise the stadium would be filled to the brim.”

sport">Caljouw is the first Dutchman to make his appearance in singles in 25 years; Ron Michels, Jeroen van Dijk and Joris van Soerland took part in the Atlanta Games a quarter of a century ago. Even before the first shuttle has gone through the air, Caljouw tempers expectations. “No one in the badminton world expects me to get a medal here,” said the world’s number 29 from Rijswijk.

sport">“I’m realistic enough for that. The fact that I was admitted as number 17 says something. This is the king of badminton. Although I can’t complain about my draw. It may sound easy, but I just want to show the best version of myself and then beautiful things can happen. Who knows, in three years I will compete in Paris for the medals.”

sport">Caljouw will take on the Indian Sai Praneeth and Misha Zilberman from Israel in the group stage. He will play for the first time on Monday.

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