At the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup 2015, Denmark was knocked out in the quarterfinals after placing second in Group 1C alongside England and Indonesia.

Fast forward four years and Denmark find themselves in the same position, in Group 1B against the same nations, where they’ll be looking go one better and top the group.

However, coach Kenneth Jonassen acknowledges thing won’t be easy following the retirement of doubles stalwart, Christina Pederson. He is hopeful though that their young talent and the mindset of being an underdog can work in the team’s favour.

There are seven new additions to Denmark from the team in 2015: Anders Antonsen, Mathias Boe, Rasmus Gemke, Mia Blichfeldt, Alexandre Bøje, Julie Dawall Jakobsen and Rikke SØby.

Denmark is taking this opportunity to trial new pairings and work on getting a winning combination.

“Our team is not as strong as it has been before. We think of ourselves as the underdogs which we like. As a team we are used to dealing with the pressure,” he said.

“We have a younger team this year. We are in a transition phase but we believe the players are ready to compete and I think we have a chance.

“We have a new mixed doubles pairing in contention, so we will see how they get on and whether they will be able to qualify for the Olympics.”

Fresh from the gold medal podium at last week’s LI-NING Denmark Challenge, women’s singles champion Mia Blichfeldt spoke at the press conference to voice the importance of team spirit inside a world-class group.

“Preparations have been good and as a team we are doing everything we can to support each other. We have a tough group with England and Indonesia,” she said.

Denmark’s first match of the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup 2019 is against England on Monday 20 May.

For the full schedule, click here.