Peter Gade
Name: Peter Gade
Born: December 14, 1976
Place of birth: Aalborg, Denmark
Specialty: Mens Singles
Started playing: Age 6
Biggest title: All England Open Badminton Championships singles title in 1999 and his five European Championships crowns in the men’s singles event.
Highest ranking: No. 1 (June 22, 2006)
Other selected results:
1994 – World-Junior-Champion in men’s doubles (partner Peder Nissen)
1995 – European-Junior-Championships
1996 – Scottish Open
1997 – German Open, Taiwan Open, Hong Kong Open
1998 – Japan Open, Swiss Open, Danish Open, Malaysian Open, European Championships
1999 – All England Open Badminton Championships, Ipoh Masters, Copenhagen Masters, Japan Open, World Grand Prix
2000 – Korea Open, Danish Open, Taiwan Open, European Championships, Copenhagen Masters
2001 – Copenhagen Masters, Korea Open
2002 – European Championships, US Open, Copenhagen Masters
2004 – European Championships, Copenhagen Masters
2005 – Korea Open, Copenhagen Masters
2006 – European Championships, Aviva Singapore Open, Copenhagen Masters
2007 – Malaysian Open, Copenhagen Masters
2008 – Denmark Open, French Open, Copenhagen Masters
2009 – Korea Open
2010 – European Championships, Copenhagen Masters
When did it all begin?
Peter Gade made himself aware for the first time when he became junior world champion in men’s doubles with his partner Peder Nissen in 1995. The following year, his first victory came in an international senior title when he stroked the Scottish Open. However, the big breakthrough did not come until 1998, when for the first time he took first place on the world rankings, after several tournament wins in both 97 and 98. The first place he kept for no less than 62 weeks.
His career has spanned 14 years. He had one of the longest careers in badminton.
Popular and talented
Peter Gade has been a fan favorite throughout his career. He has always displayed his love for the game of badminton. He continually promotes the sport of badminton. In addition, he has been involved with programs to develop the sport with young people. Back in 2018 he founded the Peter Gade Academy. The vision is to create a new platform and outset for badminton coaching, training and consulting in a more modern and unconventional way based in his great passion and dedication for the play.
Equally important, many people consider him to be the most popular badminton player in the world. He is as well beloved in his home country of Denmark. His popularity includes getting a lot of love and respect in Asian countries such as Malaysia, China and Indonesia. They as well like his belief in always playing badminton fair and he is known for that belief by the players he competes against too.
As mentioned earlier, Peter Gade won the 1999 edition of the traditional English tournament as one of the highlights of his career. At age 22, he played in the final in Birmingham, where he met an even younger Indonesian named Taufik Hidayat, who was just 17 years old. Peter Gade was one of the most dominant badminton players at the time of his All England triumph. He had at that time won four of the last seven tournaments he had participated in. When Peter Gade never achieved his great goal of winning the World Cup, nor did he reach the top of the stool at the Olympics, the victory in All England is one of the absolute achievements of the career.
Video from The All England Open 1999 vs. another legend Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia
A true fighter all the way
Peter returned to the world’s elite in 2002 following a potentially career-threatening knee injury. After seven months of intense training he returned to the world stage by winning the YONEX US Open 2002 winning with the style and agility that he had before his injury. He has always been a fighter and his will and determination to play is well-known by all his colleagues. Peter Gade remained professional ambassador for European badminton, through major part of his career. He had inspired thousands of young players all around the world with his unique style of playing Badminton that was fast attacks, smooth footwork and constant pressure. Gade retired at the end of December at his last tournament, the Copenhagen Masters in his home country, Denmark in 2012.
What does the future look like?
Peter Gade is determined not to give up badminton as this has been a part of his entire life. He has been a head coach for France for the last three years. Specifically, this means that the former top player starts the ‘Peter Gade Academy’ as mentioned in the beginning, which will be an independent badminton academy, based in Gentofte Badminton Club in Denmark. Here the purpose is to make the Academy more modern and at the same time meet the demands that come from both Danish and international players in the future.
– I do it now because I feel that I can use my name and brand within the badminton sport. After an exciting and challenging time in France, I need to try it out and see if I can create a business from it. Hopefully it can create a job and a future for myself, where I can do what I like. It gives me a different freedom than I have had before, because I feel I need to create and characterize the environment that I want to be in myself. Then of course I hope that the culture I stand for and believe in can shine through when the players come and train, says Peter Gade
Read more about Gade´s academy here
Peter Gade has been and will always be a legend!