THE HISTORY

The history of the tournament goes back to 1936 where it was played in Copenhagen for the first time under the name “International Championships of Denmark”. The inspiration for this kind of tournament came from abroad. Danish players participated in international championships in different countries in Europe and the Badminton Association of Denmark (BAD) was convinced that we should have a tournament like that in Denmark too – Denmark Open was born!

The Danes weren’t very hospitable the first year – they won all five categories – but it changed in the years to come since more and more foreign players came to Denmark to participate in the tournament.

The Second World War put a stop to this new invention in Danish badminton. For five years Denmark Open waited in the dark and finally, in 1946 the tournament was back – the foreign players weren’t. Many countries were so affected by the long war that it took years before they resumed sending players to Denmark.

In 1967 and for many years to come the finals were played in K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen. Still, the preliminary rounds were in the beginning played at other sites but later on the entire tournament was played at one place.

In 1986 BAD took a decision to move the tournament to different Danish cities. Aalborg was the first city to profit from this and The Denmark Open has been played in many Danish mayor cities ever since. Besides Aalborg, Vejle, Farum, Aarhus and now Odense have each hosted the tournament for several years.

During time the name of the tournament has changed. Until the 1990’ties the tournament was called The Danish Open. Due to collaboration with a sponsor (Realkredit Denmark) the tournament then took on a new name and has kept the name The Denmark Open as part of the title ever since.

The Denmark Open is the tournament in Denmark with most prestige and highest price money. The Danish players have taken the title several times. Morten Frost has taken a total of eight titles – seven in a row! – and profiles like Tonny Ahm, Kirsten Thorndahl, J. Hammergaard Hansen, Erland Kops, Finn Kobberø, Svend Pri, Flemming Delfs, Lene Køppen, Poul-Erik Høyer, Thomas Lund, Camilla Martin and Peter Gade have all won the tournament. The Danish players are always very motivated to perform as good as possible on home soil with a big crowd cheering for them.

The latest additions to the VICTOR Denmark Open winners are Tine Rasmussen, Jan Ø. Jørgensen, Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, Joachim Fischer, Christinna Pedersen, Anders Antonsen and Viktor Axelsen.

The current VICTOR DENMARK OPEN is played in Odense, the third largest city in Denmark. Spectators are seated very close to the courts, giving rise to a fantastic atmosphere. Today the VICTOR DENMARK OPEN is part of a much bigger family and is joined by a Junior and Senior international tournaments.