Jan O - heart of a champion

Jan O Jorgensen

Jan O Jorgensen will take on Lin Dan later today.

He lost their last match — a three-game encounter in the quarterfinals of the Korea Open, but each point Jan O wins is an illustration of his remarkable fortitude. In late October last year, he had to withdraw from the quarterfinal of the Denmark Open after being diagnosed with a heart problem.

The young Dane was devastated, but in one of the most heart-warming stories of contemporary badminton, fought his way out of self-doubt and was rewarded with his career’s best triumph — the Copenhagen Masters in late December. The title was won in a 1 hr 15 min thriller over veteran adversary Peter Gade; Jan saved five match points in the second game before prevailing 14-21 25-23 22-20.

Then, at the Korea Open in January, Jorgensen stumped world No.5 Chen Jin 15-21 21-16 21-12 to earn a quarterfinal against Lin Dan. He would lose, of course, but it’s already apparent that the Dane has turned a corner in his career. On Wednesday, in the first round of the Malaysia Open, he ambushed another Chinese, world no.11 Du Pengyu, after saving an incredible eight match points.

“I was not worried even though I had to save eight match points. It was certainly an exciting experience and the crowd played their part,” Jorgensen was quoted in the BWF website as saying. “It’s a fantastic feeling. To survive eight match points before winning is marvellous. The crowd was fantastic and I’ve always said I enjoying coming to Malaysia as this is one of the best badminton stadiums in the world. The crowd were against me in 2010 when I beat Wong Choong Hann in a Thomas Cup match, but today they were firmly behind me and I dedicate this win to them.”

About his heart problem, Jan said: “The doctors said my heart is bigger than it should be due to all the training I’ve been doing and therefore, there is nothing serious. The medical team didn’t find anything seriously wrong with me. I admit I was quite afraid at that time as I could actually hear and feel my heart beating twice as fast as normal. I can continue my career as normal and now I’m concentrating on qualifying for the Olympics.”

Jorgensen was early on tipped by the legendary Morten Frost as a potential world champion, but he has not fulfilled that prophesy. His career so far has been good, but not outstanding, and he has not yet stepped into the shoes of his soon-to-retire compatriot Peter Gade. But recent performances suggest that he is finally finding the self-belief required for the highest level. It won’t be too long before we know for sure.