2012: An unfortunate season for Juliane Schenk – Badminton Feature
“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” It seems the German badminton queen Juliane Schenk is perfect personification of this phenomenon as this ongoing season saw her in the final rounds of various international tournaments but
she could win only one.
World Number six shuttler escorted her country to the title matches of Denmark Open, Japan Open, German Open GPG, European Championships, India Open and Singapore Open but she failed to save some honour except in the last one.
The 29-year-old Juliane started her season by participating in the Korea Open. Though, she took off in perfect manner but still crashed out of the quarter-final round after losing to Wang Yihan of China. This disappointment was followed by an early exit
from the Malaysia Open where another Chinese campaigner Wang Shixian put her expedition to halt.
Women’s Singles expert Juliane did not lose heart and earned a great deal of admiration by raising her country’s flag in the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships. She grabbed all the attention with an entry in the final round but bad luck haunted
her in this title match.
She could not employ all of her experience and brilliance in the game and knelt down in front of lower ranked Danish player Tine Baun.
Her bad patch continued in the German Open where she could not clutch the trophy despite of beating the world class shuttler like Wang Xin and Ratchanok Intanon. Juliane fell prey to World Number two Li Xuerui who reserved top spot on the victory stand by
sealing a straight-set win.
The badminton world saw them head-to-head again in the India Open but result was not much different. Though, the German campaigner put an honest effort and stood tall throughout the three games but luck was not on her side. She had to surrender when her
higher ranked rival prevailed in the ending two games and claimed the crown with a 2-1 victory.
This woeful conclusion brought her under fire and the critics started advising her to stay away from the racket for a short span of time.
However, Juliane showed strong character and silenced all the opponents by raising Women’s Singles trophy in 2012 Singapore Open. She intercepted world beaters like Sung Ji Hyun and Cheng Shao Chieh in her way to glory.
This timely win raised her chances to excel in the most prestigious event of the year, the London Olympics. The supporters were expecting her to do better than 2011 World Championships where she fetched a bronze medal.
Unfortunately, Juliane could not live up to her billing and bid adieu to the mega event after losing to a lower ranked Thai player, Ratchanok Intanon.
She could not give up this habit of drawing a blank also in the Denmark Open. She kick-started her campaign by thrashing the Olympic champion Li Xuerui but squandered her effort in the title match. This time Saina Nehwal of India put her expedition to a
halt and snatched the trophy.
However, it was not sheer disappointment for Juliane in the end of this season as she managed to clutch a Grand Prix Gold title by winning the 2012 Bitburger Badminton Open.
With such an emphatic end, her responsibilities have also increased as the supporters are looking towards her to continue this successful run in the coming international events.
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