Jessica Jäntti grew up in Helsinki, Finland, and has just graduated from Brändö High School. Her father, Pontus Jäntti, was a professional badminton player and sport has always been a part of her life: “I got inspired by my dad and started to get better as I worked harder and harder. But it was first at a pretty late age, as a 15-year-old, I knew I wanted to become a badminton player. “

Currently, Jäntti is training 10-12 times a week, both on-court and off-court. She is playing for Helsinki Badminton Club (HBC), but from 1 September, she can look forward to moving to Holbaek, Denmark, to start training with the rest of the COE squad. The training will take then place in the newly built Stenhushal (Hall of Stenhus) until Holbæk SportsCentre is ready by 1 January 2019.

She can expect to have morning sessions at 7:30 AM, two evening sessions a week, including two physical sessions and additional sessions with Stenhus Badminton College. And Jäntti is looking forward to the fresh start in Denmark:

“I'm really eager to come to the Centre of Excellence and I am looking forward to start training at a high- performance centre. I've always dreamt about joining a centre where everybody shares a passion and perhaps also a dream. The whole culture in a centre like that is so professional and on a high level and I think I will grow as an athlete and as a person.”, she explains.

“I'm sure joining the Centre of Excellence will help me focus on badminton 100%. I'm also eager to try something new, challenge myself and see different coaching and training methods.”

Badminton Europe and the coaching staff are looking forward to welcoming all the players in Holbaek on 1 September 2017.

We still a have few announcements up our sleeve, so stay tuned for more as the opening date moves closer and closer. You can get up to date on the announced players by clicking here.

Go to Badminton Europe’s ‘High Performance’ commission page to learn more about the high-performance project.

E. Lollike, Badminton Europe