As bizarre as it sounds, there does not appear to be -yet- a thread dedicated to Ms. Juliane Schenk. Here it is. Name: Juliane Schenk. Plays: Women's Singles (and a sometimes doubles player) For: Germany. Style: Right-handed. Date of birth: 26 November, 1982. Born in: Krefeld, Germany. Current BWF ranking: 6 Highest BWF ranking achieved: 6 Juliane announced herself to the world at the European Junior Championships 2001, where she won the WS title. From then onwards, she has been a striking, and easily noticable presence on the world circuit, as she steadily improved her rankings, and with it, gained the respect of players everywhere. Juliane has been 4 times runner-up in SS and GPG Opens and at the European Championships this year, but she finally made one her own. Fittingly, it was the Singapore Open SS 2012, where she was very warmly received. Her stand-out traits are her fighting spirit, and her ability to raise her game when many others would fade away. Even though she has spent 11 years on the circuit, she has actually improved each passing year, and is now at the possible zenith of her playing capabilities and skill. An astute reader of the game and of her opponent, she possesses a lethal smash, and much-underestimated net skills. Her physical conditioning is superb. Also known lovingly as "The Soldier", she epitomises the positive traits of discipline, courage, dedication, and application of strategy and tactics, of the German army she is proud to be a part of. Like any true soldier, it is equally unlikely she will ever fade away quietly!
The Many Faces of Juliane Schenk .. Front: Profile: At ease: At work: At prayer: In negotiation: In victory:
Juliane Schenk: "I don't feel pressured!" Badminton Europe, 7/18/2012 http://www.badmintoneurope.com/cms/default.aspx?clubid=4685&m=486282&cmsid=239&pageid=5381 Excerpts from the interview: BADMINTON EUROPE: How would you describe your current form? Schenk: The daily form is crucial. At the moment, I feel quite good. I am physically and mentally ready. My training performance shows that everything fits. Now it is up to keep the form and increase the motivation step by step up to the highest possible level. BADMINTON EUROPE: What would you like to achieve at the 2012 Olympics? Schenk: My attempt is to present the best possible performance - and that with absolute joy and commitment. That means I am not expecting any kind of medal, title or trophy. It’s not because I don’t want it, its because I am not allowing myself to feel that pressure. I am convinced, if I can perform on my highest possible level, a medal is the consequence and that’s my goal. ...BADMINTON EUROPE: For how long will play at international level? Schenk: Actually that is a very interesting question for me at the moment. And I don’t have an answer yet. At the moment I don’t feel I have to think about the future. Because my today’s world is really exciting and fullfiling. Maybe in our next interview, I will have an answer.
If you realize, the best part when she's playing is....... her physicality is like she's on steroid......amazing.
Juliane Schenk lost to young Ratchanok in straight games 21-16 21-15 in the R16. A sad ending for the competitive shuttler from Germany, at this OG. There is every chance she will be around to participate at Rio, if her body holds up. She may need to remodel her game to that end, to play a less physical and stressful style. A few months off the circuit while she re-invents herself, may do her a world of good. She is however at the top of her game, and may instead decide to continue the way she is, for the next couple of years, and then decide if she needs to change her approach. In any case, I'm sure we'd all want her to continue to play at the level she has been, recently!
A search of recent articles turned this one up. It's actually in German, but giggle translate reveals an interesting story that many of us are probably not aware of. I wonder if someone fluent in German could help us with a decent translation of this story? Thanks in advance to the kind soul... Schenk erhebt schwere Vorwürfe gegen den Verband - FOCUS Online
I can give it a shot There was another article about Schenk and her mental coach that basically said that Schenk is a slave to her mental coach. They quoted Martin Kranitz from the German badminton association (DBV) but in the article on FOCUS Online he claims to never have said such a thing. Nevertheless Schenk is upset with the DBV because they did not object to the article. Schenk also says that she thinks the DBV did not want her to win a medal because they didn't get accreditation for her mental coach and the DBV was afraid that she would get too powerful. She even wanted to leave London after the groupstage. That should be the gist of this article. Now to my personal oppinion: I think she is way out of line and really some kind of slave of her mental coach. She can't do sh*t without her. Schenk even rented a private house for the two of them. I don't know what's going wrong in her head but she is seriously paranoid. The criticism regarding the accreditation is the most stupid thing. Why on earth should you get accreditation for someone that only works with one of your four players/pairs when you have a limited number of spots?
She is such a great player who works hard for every shot. It's a pity she always succumb to mental breakdown when her opponent is in control. Watched her last game against Ratchanok in the Round 16, she literally just gave up when Ratchanok played better shots than her.
It's not that easy to understand. It seems as if Schenk doesn't feel enough supported by the German Badminton Association (DBV) in doing it her way (work with her own mental coach, no use of the badminton coaches during a match, living not with her team mates during a tournament). There are rumours that the sports director said something about her becoming too dependent from her mental coach. Although he denied this statement later, Schenk thinks he should have done it immediately instead. Because of the lack of support she wasn't able to win a medal. As far as my opinion is concerned I do think there's something really "esoteric" about Schenk's relationship with her mental coach.
Nice sideline chat post-match with JS at the Denmark Open, after her round-of-16 match... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LJ8TvhbGSE&feature=player_detailpage#t=3249s
What an achievement by Juliane Schenk beating Gold Medalist of 2012 Olympic games, Li Xue Rui from China in straight sets. Well Done, Juliane.
JS is on an amazing streak this year! And now, at the Denmark Open, she celebrated beating LXR in straight games, by beating JYJ in 3 games, in the semis, and going into the finals! JYJ is no pushover, and has been playing solidly for some time now. But JS is once again showing her absolute spirit and heart. What makes all this even more unreal is that Juliane does not have a coach or mentor in her corner, and has not for some time now. So, she walks on to court with an automatic handicap; and to win from there against some of the world's best players..... WOW!!!
I thought JS specifically requested not to have a coach in her corner because she likes to be completely in control in critical games
after watching Denmark Open final with Saina...I'm disappointed with JS....she had the game...but she just keeps trying to win quick points when in the lead...perhaps its time she now accepts a coach...
She is probably having back muscle injury, she was seen holding her back a few times. She tried to have shorter rallies and trying perfect shots since it is very hard to rally with a bad back. JS is known for her fighting spirit and rallies, too bad it was not to be today.
That semi-final match against JYJ was a really gruelling affair; she might have been feeling it's effects the next day... Besides, the slower courts this year at the DO would have suited Saina's attritional style better, and JS probably knew she would have to try and score with quick, short rallies if she were to stay in the game...
Congratulations to Juliane! Overall, a fantastic performance at the Denmark Open; she showed the door to 2 of the game's top players, and if she hadn't run out of steam in the finals, she might have pushed Saina to the limit. As GC said, "today was just one match too far for Juliane Schenk." The nice gesture to her younger competitor... At the podium, acknowledging the applause of the fans... Receiving the medal from Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen...
At the Bitburger Open GPG, Juliane is in the finals, up against Yao Jie of the Netherlands. Their h-h is 3-2 in favour of Juliane, who has won the past 3 encounters. Last year, Juliane lost in the semi-finals to LXR. Barring any major problems or issues, Juliane looks good to win the title this year...