# Erland Kops

Erland Kops (14 January 1937 – 18 February 2017) was a badminton player from Denmark who won numerous major international singles and doubles titles from the late 1950s to the early 1970s.

## Early life

Kops was born in 1937. His uncles were the boxers Ebbe and Poul Kops who both competed at the Summer Olympics. Erland Kops began to play badminton in Københavns Badminton Klub in 1948. He worked for East Asiatic Company in Thailand from 1958 to 1960.

## Career

In 1958, Erland Kops brought an end to eight years of dominance of by Malayan players at the All England Badminton Championships by winning its Men's Singles event. Kops was also among the first Westerners to win major singles titles in the Far East. He combined abundant speed, power, and stamina with impressive shot-making virtuosity. Despite some disappointing results in the late rounds of Thomas Cup (men's international team) competition, Kops was clearly the dominant tournament men's singles player and one of the dominant men's doubles players of his era.
He is one of the most successful players ever in the All England Open Badminton Championships, with 11 titles between 1958 and 1967 - 7 of them in men's singles and 4 in men's doubles - breaking the Irish player Frank Devlin´s record of six titles.
Erland Kops also won 5 times the Danish Championships in men's singles and 4 in men's doubles. In the Nordic Championships, Erland Kops obtained the title 5 times in the men's singles category, 3 times in men's doubles and 2 more times in mixed doubles.
Kops played 44 national matches for Denmark from 1957-1972.
With no surprise, Erland Kops was among the first group of badminton players inducted into the World Badminton Hall of Fame in 1997, and was the first player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Badminton Europe Confederation (BEC) in 2013.
As a recognition for his sporting achievements, Erland Kops has been honoured with a knighthood from the Danish Queen, an Honorary Membership of The Danish Sports Federation, an Honorary Membership of Badminton Denmark, the Herbert Scheele Trophy from the Badminton World Federation, and being inducted to the Hall of Fame of Danish Sport, as well as being elected the second best Sportsman in Denmark of the 20th century.

## All England performance

In 1957, Erland Kops lost the final to the Malayan player Eddie B. Choong, but one year later he defeated Finn Kobberø in the final. In 1959, Tan Joe Hok - from Indonesia - won the championship, then, Erland Kops won it from 1960 to 1963. Finally, Erland Kops won it again two more times in 1965 and 1967. In men´s doubles, Erland Kops won the competition teaming up with Poul-Erik Nielsen in 1958 and together with Henning Borch from 1967 to 1969. Kops lost three finals in men's doubles - in 1961 and 1964 together with Poul-Erik Nielsen and against Jorgen Hammergaard / Finn Kobberø, and in 1965 with the Malaysian Oon Choong Jin and against Ng Boon Bee and Tan Yee Khan.
* 1958: Champion - vs Finn Kobberø (Denmark)
* 1960: Champion - vs Charoen Wattanasin (Thailand)
* 1961: Champion - vs Finn Kobberø (Denmark)
* 1962: Champion - vs Charoen Wattanasin (Thailand)
* 1963: Champion - vs Channarong Ratanasaengsuang (Thailand)
* 1965: Champion - vs Tan Aik Huang (Malaysia)
* 1967: Champion - vs Tan Aik Huang (Malaysia)

## Achievements
### International tournaments

Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1957 | All England | Eddy Choong | 9–15, 3–15 | Runner-up |
| 1958 | All England | Finn Kobberø | 15–10, 8–15, 15–8 | Winner |
| 1958 | Dutch Open | Ferry Sonneville | 3–15, 8–15 | Runner-up |
| 1960 | All England | Charoen Wattanasin | 15–1, 11–15, 15–6 | Winner |
| 1960 | Swiss Open | Jimmy Lim | 15–5, 15–4 | Winner |
| 1961 | Canada Open | Robert McCoig | 15–2, 15–12 | Winner |
| 1961 | All England | Finn Kobberø | 15–10, 15–6 | Winner |
| 1961 | French Open | Ferry Sonneville | 15–12, 15–10 | Winner |
| 1962 | Swedish Open | | | Winner |
| 1962 | All England | Charoen Wattanasin | 15–10, 15–5 | Winner |
| 1962 | German Open | Ferry Sonneville | 15–10, 14–15, 15–3 | Winner |
| 1963 | U.S. Open | Channarong Ratanaseangsuang | | Winner |
| 1963 | Canada Open | Channarong Ratanaseangsuang | 15–12, 15–12 | Winner |
| 1963 | All England | Channarong Ratanaseangsuang | 15–7, 15–7 | Winner |
| 1963 | German Open | Henning Borch | 15–2, 15–3 | Winner |
| 1964 | Swedish Open | | | Winner |
| 1964 | German Open | Knud Aage Nielsen | 15–7, 15–13 | Winner |
| 1965 | All England | Tan Aik Huang | 15–13, 15–12 | Winner |
| 1965 | U.S. Open | Channarong Ratanaseangsuang | | Winner |
| 1965 | Mexico International | Channarong Ratanaseangsuang | | Winner |
| 1966 | German Open | Knud Aage Nielsen | | Winner |
| 1966 | London Championships | Svend Pri | 0–15, 7–15 | Runner-up |
| 1966 | French Open | Ang Tjin Siang | 6–15, 15–6, 7–15 | Runner-up |
| 1967 | All England | Tan Aik Huang | 15–12, 15–10 | Winner |
| 1967 | Singapore Open | Tan Aik Huang | 11–15, 8–15 | Runner-up |
| 1967 | U.S. Open | Suresh Goel | 15–2, 15–12 | Winner |
| 1967 | Dutch Open | Tom Bacher | 15–8, 15–9 | Winner |
| 1967 | Malaysia Open | Darmadi | 15–10, 15–3 | Winner |
| 1967 | Norwegian International | | | Winner |
| 1967 | German Open | Wolfgang Bochow | 17–14, 15–10 | Winner |
| 1967 | Canada Open | Wayne Macdonnell | 15–11, 15–11 | Winner |
| 1968 | German Open | Tan Aik Huang | 9–15, 18–17, 15–5 | Winner |
| 1968 | Denmark Open | | | Winner |
| 1969 | Dutch Open | Oon Chong Hau | 12–15, 4–15 | Runner-up |
| 1970 | Denmark Open | Ippei Kojima | 3–15, 10–15 | Runner-up |
| 1971 | Norwegian International | Svend Pri | 10–15, 10–15 | Runner-up |
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1958 | All England | Poul-Erik Nielsen | Finn Kobberø Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen | 15–7, 11–15, 15–8 | Winner |
| 1958 | Dutch Open | Jørgen Hageman | Oon Chong Jin Arne Rasmussen | 15–11, 15–4 | Winner |
| 1959 | Malaysia Open | Eddy Choong | Teh Kew San Lim Say Hup | 11–15, 9–15 | Runner-up |
| 1960 | Swiss Open | Knud E. Jepsen | Jimmy Lim Randy Oey | 15–2, 15–11 | Winner |
| 1961 | Canada Open | Robert McCoig | Finn Kobberø Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen | 8–15, 10–15 | Runner-up |
| 1961 | French Open | Finn Kobberø | Oon Chong Teik Yeoh Kean Hua | 15–6, 15–10 | Winner |
| 1962 | German Open | Poul-Erik Nielsen | Finn Kobberø Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen | 7–15, 13–15 | Runner-up |
| 1963 | U.S. Open | Robert McCoig | Joe Alston T. Wynn Rogers | | Winner |
| 1963 | Canada Open | Robert McCoig | Sangob Rattanusorn Channarong Ratanaseangsuang | 15–13, 11–15, 15–13 | Winner |
| 1963 | German Open | Poul-Erik Nielsen | Henning Borch Jørgen Mortensen | 15–5, 15–3 | Winner |
| 1964 | German Open | Poul-Erik Nielsen | Finn Kobberø Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen | 15–3, 15–6 | Winner |
| 1964 | All England | Poul-Erik Nielsen | Finn Kobberø Jørgen Hammergaard Hansen | 6–15, 3–15 | Runner-up |
| 1965 | All England | Oon Chong Jin | Tan Yee Khan Ng Boon Bee | 7–15, 5–15 | Runner-up |
| 1965 | Mexico International | Don Paup | | | Winner |
| 1966 | London Championships | Svend Pri | D.O. Fulton Roger Mills | 9–15, 15–7, 15–12 | Winner |
| 1967 | Swedish Open | Henning Borch | Per Walsøe Svend Pri | | Runner-up |
| 1967 | All England | Henning Borch | Per Walsøe Svend Pri | 15–8, 15–12 | Winner |
| 1967 | U.S. Open | Joe Alston | | | Winner |
| 1967 | Dutch Open | Tom Bacher | Alan Parsons William Kerr | 15–4, 15–10 | Winner |
| 1967 | Norwegian International | Elo Hansen | | | Winner |
| 1967 | German Open | Per Walsøe | Wolfgang Bochow Friedhelm Wulff | 15–9, 9–15, 0–15 | Runner-up |
| 1967 | Canada Open | Rolf Paterson | Colin Beacom Roger Mills | 6–15, 7–15 | Runner-up |
| 1968 | All England | Henning Borch | Tan Yee Khan Ng Boon Bee | 15–6, 15–4 | Winner |
| 1969 | Swedish Open | Svend Pri | Tony Jordan Roger Mills | 15–13, 8–15, 15–11 | Winner |
| 1969 | All England | Henning Borch | David Eddy Roger Powell | 13–15, 15–10, 15–9 | Winner |
| 1969 | Dutch Open | Bjarne Andersen | Oon Chong Hau Ho Khim Kooi | 15–12, 5–15, 15–5 | Winner |
| 1970 | Denmark Open | Henning Borch | Per Walsøe Svend Pri | | Winner |
| 1971 | Dutch Open | Svend Pri | Derek Talbot Elliot Stuart | 15–11, 15–5 | Winner |
| 1972 | Swedish Open | Svend Pri | Per Walsøe Poul Petersen | 15–4, 9–15, 15–12 | Winner |
| 1972 | Dutch Open | Svend Pri | | | Winner |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1957 | German Open | Agnete Friis | Eddy Choong Barbara Carpenter | 15–6, 15–10 | Winner |
| 1960 | Swiss Open | Annette Schmidt | | | Winner |
| 1961 | French Open | Hanne Jensen | Bengt Nielsen Bitten Nielsen | 15–6, 15–10 | Winner |
| 1963 | Canada Open | Claire Lovett | Claude Lamere Robert McCoig | 15–7, 7–15, 9–15 | Runner-up |
| 1966 | French Open | Lene Køppen | | | Winner |
| 1969 | U.S. Open | Pernille Mølgaard Hansen | Don Paup Helen Tibbetts | 15–6, 13–15, 15–7 | Winner |
| 1971 | Norwegian International | Lene Køppen | Gert Perneklo Eva Twedberg | 15–3, 5–15, 10–15 | Runner-up |
| Rank | Event | Date | Venue |
| Danish National Championships ||||
| 1 | Singles | 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967 | Copenhagen |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1961, 1965, 1968, 1969 |
| Nordic Championships ||||
| 1 | Singles | 1964, 1965, 1966, 1966, 1967 | Various locations |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971 |
| 1 | Mixed doubles | 1965, 1967 |
| European Championships ||||
| 2 | Men's doubles | 1970 | Port Talbot, WAL |
| 3 | Men's doubles | 1972 | Karlskrona, SWE |
| Open Championships ||||
| 1 | Singles | 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967 | All England Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1958, 1967, 1968, 1969 | All England Open |
| 2 | Singles | 1957 | All England Open |
| 2 | Men's doubles | 1961, 1964, 1965 | All England Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1961 | French Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1961 | French Open |
| 1 | Mixed doubles | 1966 | French Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1961, 1963, 1967 | Canadian Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1963 | Canadian Open |
| 1 | Mixed doubles | 1963 | Canadian Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1968 | Denmark Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1970 | Denmark Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1967, 1968 | Dutch Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1958, 1967 | Dutch Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968 | German Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1963, 1964 | German Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1967 | Malaysia Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1965 | Mexican Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1965 | Mexican Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1962 | Mexico City International |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1962 | Mexico City International |
| 1 | Singles | 1968 | Norwegian International |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1968 | Norwegian International |
| 1 | Singles | 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 | Swedish Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1965, 1968 | Swedish Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1960 | Swiss Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1960 | Swiss Open |
| 1 | Mixed doubles | 1960 | Swiss Open |
| 1 | Singles | 1963, 1965, 1967 | U.S. Open |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1963, 1967 | U.S. Open |
| 1 | Mixed doubles | 1969 | U.S. Open |
| Other National Championships ||||
| 1 | Singles | 1959 | All-India Championships |
| 1 | Men's doubles | 1959 | All-India Championships |
| 1 | Mixed doubles | 1959 | All-India Championships |
| 1 | Singles | 1959 | Thailand National Championships |