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Jakobsen looks to keep on climbing the rankings (Photo: Badminton Photo)
Julie Jakobsen: It was an extra nice feeling
Date: 7/10/2018 5:12 PM
Published by : Alan Raftery
Jumping three spots in the ranking, the new Danish player on the block, Julie Jakobsen, is now in the top 10 European Women’s Singles players. At just 20 years of age this is a great achievement. We interview Jakobsen to get to know this future star better.

The Copenhagen born player has her current training setup at the national centre in Brøndby, and also in Værløse, for club training. When discussing Jakobsen’s current form this season, she states

-I had a good May with wins in Dutch International and in a Danish tournament, and I played well in June in US and Canada. Now I finished school and had a week vacation, and the next month, or more, will be a hard build up period towards the next season. 

Quite rare to see
When looking through Jakobsen’s tournament results, one thing that leaps off the screen is the fact that she plays Women’s Doubles alongside her singles. This combination is quite rare to see, and Jakobsen explains that

-My main focus is singles, and I only do Women’s Singles training. I will keep playing Doubles as long as I can. I thinks it’s so much fun and I still think I keep learning things from the doubles that I can use in my singles. 

This is certainly something you cannot argue when witnessing her 2018 results, which can be described as a sort of break-out season. Jakobsen made the final in the Swedish Open, only losing 21-19 in the third game against her compatriot, Michelle Skodstrup. It was a semi-final result in the Portuguese International and a terrific tournament win at the Dutch International, where she showed great resilience in 3 tough 3-game matches from the quarter-finals to the title. When asked about her feelings after this win, she says

-It was an extra nice feeling! I felt I played very well, and I think it was a high quality of players for a series tournament with a lot of players coming from Asia. It was also nice winning as the top seeded, it’s never easy. 

Keep improving
Looking to the future and key targets, Jakobsen explains

-Unfortunately, my ranking is not high enough for me going to the World championships. For the rest of the season I’m looking to still keep improving and hopefully improve my ranking so that I’m able to enter more of the Super 300 and Super 500 tournaments. I’m hoping to win or do well in the challenge tournaments in Europe. Long term, I hope to participate in the Olympics, if not in Tokyo 2020, then in Paris 2024.

Lastly, we asked Jakobsen if she had any tips on how to stay focused before matches? 

-I actually like to be pretty early in the hall. Building up to the game I do my warming up routine and listen to some music. I always go through the plan regarding my opponent while warming up.

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