Erland Kops (14 January 1937 – 18 February 2017)[1] was a badminton player from Denmark who won numerous major international singles and doubles titles from the late 1950s to the early 1970s.

Erland Kops
Kops in 1968
Personal information
CountryDenmark
Born(1937-01-14)14 January 1937
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died18 February 2017(2017-02-18) (aged 80)
HandednessRight
EventMen's singles & Men's doubles
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Denmark
Thomas Cup
Silver medal – second place 1964 Tokyo Men's team
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1970 Port Talbot Men's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1972 Karlskrona Men's doubles
European Mixed Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 1972 Karlskrona Mixed team
The grave of erland Kops in Copenhagen.

Early life

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Kops was born in 1937. His uncles were the boxers Ebbe and Poul Kops who both competed at the Summer Olympics. Erland Kops began to play badminton in Københavns Badminton Klub in 1948. He worked for East Asiatic Company in Thailand from 1958 to 1960.[2]

Career

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In 1958, Erland Kops brought an end to eight years of dominance of by Malayan players at the All England Badminton Championships by winning its Men's Singles event. Kops was also among the first Westerners to win major singles titles in the Far East.[3] He combined abundant speed, power, and stamina with impressive shot-making virtuosity. Despite some disappointing results in the late rounds of Thomas Cup (men's international team) competition, Kops was clearly the dominant tournament men's singles player and one of the dominant men's doubles players of his era.[4]

He is one of the most successful players ever in the All England Open Badminton Championships, with 11 titles between 1958 and 1967 - 7 of them in men's singles and 4 in men's doubles - breaking the Irish player Frank Devlin´s record of six titles.[5][6]

Erland Kops also won 5 times the Danish Championships in men's singles and 4 in men's doubles. In the Nordic Championships, Erland Kops obtained the title 5 times in the men's singles category, 3 times in men's doubles and 2 more times in mixed doubles.[6]

Kops played 44 national matches for Denmark from 1957-1972.[6]

With no surprise, Erland Kops was among the first group of badminton players inducted into the World Badminton Hall of Fame in 1997,[7] and was the first player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Badminton Europe Confederation (BEC) in 2013.[8][9]

As a recognition for his sporting achievements, Erland Kops has been honoured with a knighthood from the Danish Queen, an Honorary Membership of The Danish Sports Federation, an Honorary Membership of Badminton Denmark, the Herbert Scheele Trophy from the Badminton World Federation, and being inducted to the Hall of Fame of Danish Sport, as well as being elected the second best Sportsman in Denmark of the 20th century.[8]

All England performance

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In 1957, Erland Kops lost the final to the Malayan player Eddie B. Choong, but one year later he defeated Finn Kobberø in the final. In 1959, Tan Joe Hok - from Indonesia - won the championship, then, Erland Kops won it from 1960 to 1963. Finally, Erland Kops won it again two more times in 1965 and 1967. In men´s doubles, Erland Kops won the competition teaming up with Poul-Erik Nielsen in 1958 and together with Henning Borch from 1967 to 1969. Kops lost three finals in men's doubles - in 1961 and 1964 together with Poul-Erik Nielsen and against Jorgen Hammergaard / Finn Kobberø, and in 1965 with the Malaysian Oon Choong Jin and against Ng Boon Bee and Tan Yee Khan.

Achievements

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International tournaments

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Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
1957 All England   Eddy Choong 9–15, 3–15   Runner-up
1958 All England   Finn Kobberø 15–10, 8–15, 15–8   Winner
1958 Dutch Open   Ferry Sonneville 3–15, 8–15   Runner-up
1960 All England   Charoen Wattanasin 15–1, 11–15, 15–6   Winner
1960 Swiss Open   Jimmy Lim 15–5, 15–4   Winner
1961 Canada Open   Robert McCoig 15–2, 15–12   Winner
1961 All England   Finn Kobberø 15–10, 15–6   Winner
1961 French Open   Ferry Sonneville 15–12, 15–10   Winner
1962 Swedish Open   Winner
1962 All England   Charoen Wattanasin 15–10, 15–5   Winner
1962 German Open   Ferry Sonneville 15–10, 14–15, 15–3   Winner
1963 U.S. Open   Channarong Ratanaseangsuang   Winner
1963 Canada Open   Channarong Ratanaseangsuang 15–12, 15–12   Winner
1963 All England   Channarong Ratanaseangsuang 15–7, 15–7   Winner
1963 German Open   Henning Borch 15–2, 15–3   Winner
1964 Swedish Open   Winner
1964 German Open   Knud Aage Nielsen 15–7, 15–13   Winner
1965 All England   Tan Aik Huang 15–13, 15–12   Winner
1965 U.S. Open   Channarong Ratanaseangsuang   Winner
1965 Mexico International   Channarong Ratanaseangsuang   Winner
1966 German Open   Knud Aage Nielsen   Winner
1966 London Championships   Svend Pri 0–15, 7–15   Runner-up
1966 French Open   Ang Tjin Siang 6–15, 15–6, 7–15   Runner-up
1967 All England   Tan Aik Huang 15–12, 15–10   Winner
1967 Singapore Open   Tan Aik Huang 11–15, 8–15   Runner-up
1967 U.S. Open   Suresh Goel 15–2, 15–12   Winner
1967 Dutch Open   Tom Bacher 15–8, 15–9   Winner
1967 Malaysia Open   Darmadi 15–10, 15–3   Winner
1967 Norwegian International   Winner
1967 German Open   Wolfgang Bochow 17–14, 15–10   Winner
1967 Canada Open   Wayne Macdonnell 15–11, 15–11   Winner
1968 German Open   Tan Aik Huang 9–15, 18–17, 15–5   Winner
1968 Denmark Open   Winner
1969 Dutch Open   Oon Chong Hau 12–15, 4–15   Runner-up
1970 Denmark Open   Ippei Kojima 3–15, 10–15   Runner-up
1971 Norwegian International   Svend Pri 10–15, 10–15   Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
1958 All England   Poul-Erik Nielsen   Finn Kobberø
  Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen
15–7, 11–15, 15–8   Winner
1958 Dutch Open   Jørgen Hageman   Oon Chong Jin
  Arne Rasmussen
15–11, 15–4   Winner
1959 Malaysia Open   Eddy Choong   Teh Kew San
  Lim Say Hup
11–15, 9–15   Runner-up
1960 Swiss Open   Knud E. Jepsen   Jimmy Lim
  Randy Oey
15–2, 15–11   Winner
1961 Canada Open   Robert McCoig   Finn Kobberø
  Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen
8–15, 10–15   Runner-up
1961 French Open   Finn Kobberø   Oon Chong Teik
  Yeoh Kean Hua
15–6, 15–10   Winner
1962 German Open   Poul-Erik Nielsen   Finn Kobberø
  Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen
7–15, 13–15   Runner-up
1963 U.S. Open   Robert McCoig   Joe Alston
  T. Wynn Rogers
  Winner
1963 Canada Open   Robert McCoig   Sangob Rattanusorn
  Channarong Ratanaseangsuang
15–13, 11–15, 15–13   Winner
1963 German Open   Poul-Erik Nielsen   Henning Borch
  Jørgen Mortensen
15–5, 15–3   Winner
1964 German Open   Poul-Erik Nielsen   Finn Kobberø
  Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen
15–3, 15–6   Winner
1964 All England   Poul-Erik Nielsen   Finn Kobberø
  Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen
6–15, 3–15   Runner-up
1965 All England   Oon Chong Jin   Tan Yee Khan
  Ng Boon Bee
7–15, 5–15   Runner-up
1965 Mexico International   Don Paup


  Winner
1966 London Championships   Svend Pri   D.O. Fulton
  Roger Mills
9–15, 15–7, 15–12   Winner
1967 Swedish Open   Henning Borch   Per Walsøe
  Svend Pri
  Runner-up
1967 All England   Henning Borch   Per Walsøe
  Svend Pri
15–8, 15–12   Winner
1967 U.S. Open   Joe Alston


  Winner
1967 Dutch Open   Tom Bacher   Alan Parsons
  William Kerr
15–4, 15–10   Winner
1967 Norwegian International   Elo Hansen


  Winner
1967 German Open   Per Walsøe   Wolfgang Bochow
  Friedhelm Wulff
15–9, 9–15, 0–15   Runner-up
1967 Canada Open   Rolf Paterson   Colin Beacom
  Roger Mills
6–15, 7–15   Runner-up
1968 All England   Henning Borch   Tan Yee Khan
  Ng Boon Bee
15–6, 15–4   Winner
1969 Swedish Open   Svend Pri   Tony Jordan
  Roger Mills
15–13, 8–15, 15–11   Winner
1969 All England   Henning Borch   David Eddy
  Roger Powell
13–15, 15–10, 15–9   Winner
1969 Dutch Open   Bjarne Andersen   Oon Chong Hau
  Ho Khim Kooi
15–12, 5–15, 15–5   Winner
1970 Denmark Open   Henning Borch   Per Walsøe
  Svend Pri
  Winner
1971 Dutch Open   Svend Pri   Derek Talbot
  Elliot Stuart
15–11, 15–5   Winner
1972 Swedish Open   Svend Pri   Per Walsøe
  Poul Petersen
15–4, 9–15, 15–12   Winner
1972 Dutch Open   Svend Pri


  Winner

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
1957 German Open   Agnete Friis   Eddy Choong
  Barbara Carpenter
15–6, 15–10   Winner
1960 Swiss Open   Annette Schmidt   Winner
1961 French Open   Hanne Jensen   Bengt Nielsen
  Bitten Nielsen
15–6, 15–10   Winner
1963 Canada Open   Claire Lovett   Claude Lamere
  Robert McCoig
15–7, 7–15, 9–15   Runner-up
1966 French Open   Lene Køppen   Winner
1969 U.S. Open   Pernille Mølgaard Hansen   Don Paup
  Helen Tibbetts
15–6, 13–15, 15–7   Winner
1971 Norwegian International   Lene Køppen   Gert Perneklo
  Eva Twedberg
15–3, 5–15, 10–15   Runner-up
Rank Event Date Venue
Danish National Championships
1 Singles 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967 Copenhagen
Men's doubles 1961, 1965, 1968, 1969
Nordic Championships
1 Singles 1964, 1965, 1966, 1966, 1967 Various locations
Men's doubles 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971
Mixed doubles 1965, 1967
European Championships
2 Men's doubles 1970 Port Talbot, WAL
3 Men's doubles 1972 Karlskrona, SWE
Open Championships
1 Singles 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967 All England Open
Men's doubles 1958, 1967, 1968, 1969
2 Singles 1957 All England Open
Men's doubles 1961, 1964, 1965
1 Singles 1961 French Open
Men's doubles 1961
Mixed doubles 1966
1 Singles 1961, 1963, 1967 Canadian Open
Men's doubles 1963
Mixed doubles 1963
1 Singles 1968 Denmark Open
Men's doubles 1970
1 Singles 1967, 1968 Dutch Open
Men's doubles 1958, 1967
1 Singles 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968 German Open
Men's doubles 1963, 1964
1 Singles 1967 Malaysia Open
1 Singles 1965 Mexican Open
Men's doubles 1965
1 Singles 1962 Mexico City International
Men's doubles 1962
1 Singles 1968 Norwegian International
Men's doubles 1968
1 Singles 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 Swedish Open
Men's doubles 1965, 1968
1 Singles 1960 Swiss Open
Men's doubles 1960
Mixed doubles 1960
1 Singles 1963, 1965, 1967 U.S. Open
Men's doubles 1963, 1967
Mixed doubles 1969
Other National Championships
1 Singles 1959 All-India Championships
Men's doubles 1959
Mixed doubles 1959
1 Singles 1959 Thailand National Championships

References

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  1. ^ "Danish badminton great Erland Kops dies at age 80". ESPN (via Associated Press). 18 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Stjernerne fra i går: Erland Kops". badminton.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  3. ^ Herbert Scheele ed., The International Badminton Federation Handbook for 1971 (Canterbury, Kent, England: J. A. Jennings Ltd. 1971) 200, 303.
  4. ^ Pat Davis, The Guinness Book of Badminton (Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlatives Ltd., 1983) 123, 155,156.
  5. ^ Herbert Scheele ed., The International Badminton Federation Handbook for 1971 (Canterbury, Kent, England: J. A. Jennings Ltd. 1971) 163-165.
  6. ^ a b c "Badminton Denmark". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  7. ^ "bwfbadminton.org". bwfbadminton. Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Hall of Fame of the Badminton Europe Confederation". Badminton Europe Confederation. Badminton Europe Confederation. 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  9. ^ Sukumar, Dev (21 April 2013). "Sportkeeda Badminton". Sportkeeda. Sportkeeda. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
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