Finnish shuttler Oldorff stars at Al Ain Masters

Promising Finnish shuttler Joakim Oldorff ’s calm and composed demeanour on the court didn’t just fetch him his first Super100 men’s singles title at the Al Ain Masters 2025 on Sunday but the hearts of many fans.

With the same politeness, he obliged his young fans with photographs and autographs at the Al Ain Club.

However, he also describes himself as ‘competitive’.

“I think my competitiveness and politeness describe me. I like to be respectful with everyone – I want to treat people the way I want them to treat me.”

“It has been an amazing week and amazing crowd! “I’m proud at the moment; it’s my second tournament in Abu Dhabi, I ‘m honoured to see such crowd cheering for me.”

At 22, Oldorff has pulled off amazing result, motivating and guiding himself all by himself. On Sunday, he came from a game down to beat a strong Malaysia’s Aidil Sholeh 14-21, 21-17, 21-7 in men’s singles final.

For Sholeh it was his second career Super 100 final after a silver medal at the Indonesia Masters last year.

“It’s not always easy to be without coach but I keep in n touch with my coach (Anu Nieminen) everyday about matches and talk about strategies. But I also feel that you learn a lot when you are on your own on the court – you have to mentally aware what’s happening because no one is telling you,” Oldorff whose first international title was the Welsh International in 2023.

“This event was special – I have been better handling than before without coach, especially mentally.

“I just try to keep doing the right things and strictly focus on my game plan – that helps me rather than focusing on my emotions,” said the European Championships Junior and Senior bronze medallist on how he kept his focus in the match.

While his next goal is the Arctic Open at his home, but he wants to become better person in every way. “I want to be better not just in badminton but in every way. Playing the Olympics is the ultimate goal in badminton,” said the promising star who also trains a few weeks in the year at the Yonex Peter Gade Academy and play in in clubs in Denmark.

“I also want to do well at the European Championships next year, but I want to focus one tournament at a time,” he added.

Earlier, Oldorff delivered a commanding performance to defeat Vietnam’s Hai Dang Nguyen 21-17, 21-17.

India’s former World No.1 Kidambi Srikanth was stunned by Malaysia youngster Sholeh in the other semi-final.

In women’s doubles, Chinese Taipei’s teenage duo Liang Ching Sun and Yan Fei Chen produced one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by defeating Australian Olympians and Oceania champions Gronya Somerville and Angela Yu 21-11, 21-17 in just 27 minutes.