GUWAHATI: Many moons ago, Peter Rasmussen had disrupted the badminton world by reaching the pinnacle. The former ace, renowned for his footwork and stinging jump-smashes, had taken a rare path in 1997 to become the first Dane and a non-Asian player to capture the world title after a 20-year gap.
In the following years, he had gone on to capture the European crown before an injury had forced him to cut short his career. Fast forward to now, his son Simon, who's featuring in the ongoing World Junior Championships here, is hoping to carry the family legacy forward.
Simon comes across as any other regular teenager who's here to express himself with the racquet and shuttle. After acing his men's opening singles match at the BWF Junior World Championships on Monday, the Danish shuttler was in good spirits. Peter, who also doubles up as his coach, is also here to give him a welcome push.
"I think I was a bit nervous because it was the first round. I often feel a bit tense in the beginning of matches, especially first-round matches. But I was able to do quite well even though I was quite nervous," Simon said.
Given his father's exploits and his family's love for the racquet sport, badminton was destined to be a focal point in his life. "I grew up with badminton. It's a big part of my identity and also my life in general. Both my siblings (older brother and younger sister) are into the sport. My mother and grandparents played the sport. We are a badminton family."
"My father has always been my coach. He has taught me how to cope with my matches when I'm nervous, when I'm playing badly or even when I'm playing well...how to keep pushing hard and try to focus on the next point. He has also taught me about technique, we have trained a lot together in different halls. My mother, she has been more like a supporter for me. In terms of analysing the game, she is not as good as my father but she's really helpful and a strong support system."
Simon, of course, is at the nascent stage of his career. Having watched Peter's conquering acts online, he wants to mirror his techniques as he works on his development. "I have watched many of his games, especially the World Championships. What I look for in his game is his footwork, it's special... how he moves on the court, trying to learn how I can adopt his fluency to my game. He did a lot of footwork when he was playing and he has told me that's something that I need to focus a lot on, trying to be fluent and conserve more energy when I'm playing."
Being a champion sportsperson's child also has its potential curveballs as a sizeable number of people tend to set the bar high, thereby amplifying the weight of expectations. But Simon chooses to count on his blessings and stressed that pressure comes from within. "The pressure has never come from my father, my mother and family and so on but mostly from the inside. It's not like I feel pressure from him or other members of my family but mostly from myself."
Coming into the junior world meet, Simon had featured in just three events (recognised by BWF) in 2025. The 18-year-old wants to take one step at a time approach for now. "Right now, I'm just trying to train as much as possible. I have also been playing tournaments but mostly in Denmark. I'm just focussing on developing my game, my skills, and technique. Then later, maybe, in one year or two years, I'll be competing in the international circuit, the European circuit and try and win future series and challenges and so on."
Peter, on his part, is happy to watch his son trading shuttles with fellow promising players with lofty ambitions. "I like to watch him play. Badminton has been a big part of our lives. So we're proud that he's competing at this event (Jr Worlds). He'll fight a lot for it."
Having accumulated wealth of knowledge over the years (active and post-retirement), Peter is putting his ideas to practice in order to elevate Simon's game. For instance, Simon also has the luxury to pick Lianying Zhang and Peter Gade's brains at the latter's academy back home. Zhang, regarded as the 'Godfather of Danish badminton', had a big impact in Peter's career and more recently, Zhang has has also been a massive influence in Viktor Axelsen's success story. Gade, meanwhile, was one of the faces of Denmark badminton before Axelsen's arrival.
Peter recalled his playing years, which was once regarded as the golden age of Danish badminton.
"You have to have the will to play and also have fun. I was quite lucky, my first coach was Knud Aage Nielsen, a former All England champion from 1964. He gave me a lot of motivation. Later, I trained under Lianying Zhang, the same coach who trains Viktor Axelsen. Now, he also trains Simon. When I got him, my game suddenly improved a great deal. Morten Frost has also meant a lot for my career."
"We had many quality men's singles players then. We had Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, Peter Gade, Kenneth Jonassen. We were very good as a group."
Despite attempting to lay a strong foundation, Peter, who went on to study medicine post his playing career, understands the uncertain nature of the sport. With every outing, the size of challenge will continue to swell. Peter just wants his son to maintain his focus and trust the process. "If he focusses on the process. He can be a very good player. I'm also his coach, we play a lot together. But he also has to learn from other coaches."
This India visit, a first for both, could potentially open new doors in their pursuit for excellence.
