Camilla Martin

I turned on the tv on Sunday night, 11 October 2004 to watch the Denmark Open finals. It was a great feeling to see some of my favourite players on court, Xie Xingfang who defeated Yao Jie of Netherlands and the ever witty Lin Dan who defended his title despite playing against a tough opponent, Xia Xuanze.

                But what really captured my heart during the final day was the appearance of Camilla Martin. No, she did not enter the finals as she had already lost to Xie Xingfang in the semifinals, neither did she come to play for any exhibition match. She was there because the organizers wanted to pay a tribute to the great Dane. Her lost in the semifinals the day before marked her retirement in the world of badminton. In fact, the 2004 Denmark Open was specially held in Aarhus, the place where Camilla Martin grew up!

                Yup, she will be greatly missed forever in the world of badminton as a player who has many kinds of characters on court. She yelled, she swore, she received umpteen warnings from the umpire due to her misconduct on court, she too celebrated and clenched her fist into the air to signal her victory of her matches. According to her, her bad temper was one of her motivations to spur her whenever she is trailing in her games.

                For more than a decade, she had been a real torture for the Chinese team, being one of the few Europeans who managed to break the Chinese domination in the women’s singles. However, there was a time when she thought of quitting badminton when she lost out earlier than expected in the 1997 World Championship in the Quarter final stage. She got very frustrated of training with the men, feeling isolated all the time but as a result, she was always beaten by the same Chinese girls. After her defeat in Glasgow, she took a month of vacation in Greece but realized that she loved badminton so much, therefore she went back on court!

                Two years later, she bounced back strongly to win the 1999 World Championship which was also held in her home, Denmark. Among her other achievements are being the 2000 Olympic Silver Medallist and the 2002 All England Champinship winner. Apart from those three significant titles, she has also captured over 30 Grand Prix titles throughout her career.

                However, in the recent 2004 Athens Olympic Games, she failed to improve the colour of medal she won four years ago, losing out to the unheralded Tracey Hallem of England in one of the preliminary rounds. According to Camilla, she did not set any target for this Olympic, therefore many badminton fans made a conclusion that the lack of motivation of her in the Olympic caused her downfall. After all, everyone, including Camilla knew that it would be her last Olympic, therefore her fans expected her to be more confidence and made made it great before she retired ;)

                I am writing this article mainly because she is my all-time favourite badminton player. I vividly remember that the first player I saw from TV in an international tournament which led to my enthusiasm for badminton was none other than Camilla Martin. She was playing against Dai Yun of China in the final of the 1999 World Championship which Camilla eventually won it memorably in front of her home crowd. The Danish Queen was also present to witness her victory! So, I would say that because of Camilla, I am now a badminton freak who follows closely every badminton news in the world. I supported her all the way until the day when she decided to hang up her racket. I rooted for her everywhere, newspapers, internet, TV, and I finally met her and spoke to her for a few seconds in 2002. 

                Believe it or not, Camilla Martin, the darling of badminton in Denmark has retired! Although it seems like a dream for me, I have to accept the fact that she has retired! I will not be able to see her live from TV again. Whatever her future plans are, I am sure that all her fans around the world will definitely support her forever. Good luck!