Ulla Strand (21 March 1943 – 7 August 2007), born as Ulla Rasmussen, was

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player of Denmark who excelled from the early 1960s to the early 1970s. Though she won three Danish national singles titles and reached the women's singles final at the All-England Championships in 1965, most of her major championship victories were in doubles (often with her sister Karin Jorgensen) and mixed doubles. Attractive and charismatic, she was a crowd favorite throughout her career. She was included in the

Badminton Hall of Fame The Badminton World Federation (BWF) Hall of Fame is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It honours both players and other contributors to the sport of badminton. The BWF Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization with the goal to preserve, celebrat ...

in 1999. Ulla Strand died in 2007 after a long illness.

Career

Strand won 10

All England Open Badminton Championships The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premi ...

titles, 7 in mixed doubles and 3 in women's doubles. She also won 21 Danish National Championships between 1961 and 1974, and 19 Nordic Championships between 1962 and 1973.

1972 Summer Olympics

Strand competed in

badminton at the 1972 Summer Olympics The badminton tournament was one of two demonstration sports at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. It was the first time that the sport was part of the Olympic program, and it would become an official Olympic sport 20 years later at the 1992 Su ...

, as a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration sport ...

competition. In women's singles, she lost in the first round against Noriko Nakayama, 11-5, 11-9. In mixed doubles she played with

Svend Pri Svend Pri (earlier Svend Andersen; March 18, 1945 – June 8, 1983) was a Danish badminton player who won numerous major titles from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. Career His play was marked by great power, tenacity, and tactical astu ...

, and they were beaten in the final by

Derek Talbot Derek Talbot (born 23 March 1947) is a former English badminton player. One of Britain's most successful "all-rounders," he won eleven English National Championships four singles, three doubles, and four mixed doubles. He also won four Common ...

and

Gillian Gilks Gillian M. Gilks (formerly Gillian Perrin, and later Gillian Goodwin; born 20 June 1950) is an English former badminton player who won numerous major titles in all three events (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) between the late 1960s and t ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, 15-6, 18-16.

Achievements

Olympic Games (demonstration)

''Mixed doubles''

European Championships

''Women's doubles''

International tournaments (55 titles, 39 runners-up)

''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Summary of major tournaments

References

External links

Ulla Strand at BadmintonDenmark.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strand, Ulla Danish female badminton players Badminton players at the 1972 Summer Olympics 1943 births 2007 deaths Badminton players from Copenhagen Olympic badminton players for Denmark