Peter Rasmussen

Peter claims that the reason why he was so successful on the badminton court was because of his studies of Bushido, an ancient Japanese philosophy and his mentor, Miyamoto Musashi, a great samurai. Miyamoto Musashi began his “warrior’s pilgrimage” at age 13 when he began to train as a swordsmen and as a practicing Bushido Warrior. Legend claims that he killed his first opponent at age 14 in one of the 60 duels he fought over his lifetime. It is said that he was never defeated, both in single combat and during the 6 wars, in which he took part. At age 35, Musashi sheathed his sword to become a mentor, an artist and finally a writer, who penned one of Japan’s most influential pieces of literature – “The Book of the Five Rings.” Rasmussen had to face the fact of losing before he can entertain the thought of winning. Peter proved that his philosophy of playing badminton was very successful. After finding Bushido and practicing it, Peter went on a 6-month winning streak that culminated tournaments such as the Japan Open, the Nordic Championship, the Danish Championship and finally the World Championships.

Peter, who has devoted much of his life to badminton and gave everything that he had, did not want to stop after retiring from the pro circuit in February 2005. He is now completing his medical studies and is also a manager for the Badminton Players Federation, the union representing the professional badminton players under the banner of the Badminton World Federation (formerly International Badminton Federation, formerly World Badminton Federation).

Rasmussen suffered a career ending foot injury on 25 September 2004, during the Men's Singles Final of the 2004 U.S. Open (badminton). He was forced to retire while leading the score 12-7 in the first game against Lee Yen Hui Kendrick. He attempted to rehabilitate but on 9 February 2005 he announced his retirement from international competition due to lack of progress.

The final match he played for the Danish national team was in the 2004 Thomas Cup semi-finals. Denmark and Indonesia were tied 2-2, and Peter Rasmussen vs Simon Santoso would decide who advanced to the finals against China. Rasmussen won the match in straight sets, 15-3, 15-12. Rasmussen considers this match, in front of 12,000 Indonesian spectators, to be the highlight of his career.

Prior to his announcing of his retirement, Peter was contacted by Bobby Milroy, the current president of the BPF, to offer Peter the chance to come to Canada, Milroy's country to participate in what was known as the 2004 Revolution Cup. The Revolution Cup was the biggest badminton tournament to go to Canada since the World Championships held in Calgary in 1985. An official DVD of the tournament is also available [1].

At the European Championships in 2002, Peter had to face country-man Anders Boesen, this was after a four-year lay-off period for Peter who was recovering from foot injury. Boesen ranked 5th in the World at the time, was leading Rasmussen 5-1 in the final set but Rasmssusen seemed to have ignored the pressure completely and came back to win 7-5 and a ticket to face another country-man, Kenneth Jonasson, Rasmussen was outclassed in the first set losing 7-0 to the World #2 ranked player. But with a level of focus rarely seen in sports, Rasmussen fought back to take the match in a grueling 5 sets.

At the 1999 China Open, Rasmussen knocked out the 16-year old Lin Dan in the first round 6-15, 15-8, 15-4. This was to be their only career encounter, making Rasmussen one of the select few players with a winning head-to-head over the Chinese.

The crowning achievement of his career was winning the Men's Singles at the 1997 IBF World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the first time a Dane and a non- Asian player captured that title since Flemming Delfs won at the first-ever IBF World Championships held in Sweden in 1977. The Men's Finals in 1997 is regarded as one of the best badminton matches played ever because of both the duration and quality of the match. In the end, Peter Rasmussen's opponent, Sun Jun of China cramped up and could barely continue. Rasmussen capitalized on the opportunity and closed out his three-game victory, 16-17, 18-13, 15-10.

Apart from all the tournament victories Peter has accomplished, he and finalist of the IBF World Championships in 1997, Sun Jun hold the longest game record at 124 minutes.

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Peter Rasmussen (born 2 August 1974) is a Danish badminton player. A former World Champion and European Champion, Rasmussen ranks among the best Danish badminton players of all time.