Sture Johnsson

Sture Göran Johnsson
Personal information
Country	Sweden
Born	(1945-09-27) 27 September 1945 (age 79) Mölndal, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
Handedness	Right
Career title(s)	European champion (1968, 1970 & 1974)
Medal record Men's badminton Representing   Sweden European Championships 1968 Bochum Men's singles 1970 Port Talbot Men's singles 1974 Vienna Men's singles 1978 Preston Men's singles European Mixed Team Championships 1974 Vienna Mixed team 1978 Preston Mixed team

Sture Johnsson (born 27 September 1945) is a retired badminton player from Sweden who won numerous Swedish national and international men's singles titles. His game was characterized by impressive stamina and mobility, and a powerful overhead smash.

Career

Johnsson won men's singles at the first European Badminton Championships in 1968. He eventually won three singles titles at this biennial event (1968, 1970 and 1974 ^[1] ), a total bested only by Peter Gade in the early 2000s. He won the World Invitational Championships in 1971 held in Glasgow and reached the semifinals of men's singles at the All-England Championships on four occasions and was one of only a very few players to beat Rudy Hartono in tournament play during Hartono's prime (semifinals of 1973 German Open). Johnsson was a member of six consecutive Swedish Thomas Cup teams between 1963 and 1979.

He also competed at the first ever IBF World Championships in Malmö, in 1977, and was defeated in quarterfinals by the eventual champion Flemming Delfs. ^[2]

1972 Summer Olympics

Johnsson competed in badminton at the 1972 Summer Olympics, as a demonstration sport competition. In men's singles, he lost in semifinals against Rudy Hartono, 15–2, 15–4. In mixed doubles he played with Eva Twedberg, and they were beaten in the first round by Roland Maywald and Brigitte Steden of West Germany.

Achievements

European Championships

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1968	Ruhrlandhalle, Bochum, West Germany	Wolfgang Bochow	17–14, 11–15, 15–5	Gold
1970	Afan Lido, Port Talbot, Wales	Elo Hansen	15–5, 15–6	Gold
1974	Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria	Thomas Kihlström	15–7, 15–8	Gold
1978	Guild Hall, Preston, England	Flemming Delfs	14–17, 9–15	Bronze

International tournaments (25 titles, 28 runners-up)

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
1965	Norwegian International	Kurt Johnsson	15–11, 15–10	Winner
1967	Norwegian International	Erland Kops	8–15, 6–15	Runner-up
1967	Nordic Championships	Erland Kops	7–15, 12–15	Runner-up
1968	French Open	Lee Kin Tat	15–12, 15–3	Winner
1968	Norwegian International	Klaus Kaagaard	17–16, 15–5	Winner
1969	Swedish Open	Svend Pri	18–15, 12–15, 10–15	Runner-up
1969	Canada Open	Erland Kops	11–15, 1–15	Runner-up
1969	Norwegian International	Klaus Kaagaard	13–18, 15–2, 12–15	Runner-up
1969	Nordic Championships	Kurt Johnsson	15–6, 15–8	Winner
1970	Swedish Open	Svend Pri	15–0, 3–15, 5–15	Runner-up
1971	German Open	Jørgen Mortensen	18–15, 15–5	Winner
1971	Swedish Open	Elo Hansen	18–17, 10–15, 5–15	Runner-up
1971	Nordic Championships	Svend Pri	15–8, 11–15, 7–15	Runner-up
1972	German Open	Tan Aik Huang	14–18, 15–5, 15–7	Winner
1972	Dutch Open	Svend Pri	15–8, 15–2	Winner
1972	Swedish Open	Svend Pri	12–15, 6–15	Runner-up
1972	U.S. Open	Derek Talbot	15–3, 13–15, 15–8	Winner
1972	Canada Open	Derek Talbot	7–15, 6–15	Runner-up
1972	Mexico International	Roy Díaz González	15–8, 15–11	Winner
1972	Nordic Championships	Thomas Kihlström	15–3, 17–14	Winner
1973	German Open	Tjun Tjun	15–5, 12–15, 15–5	Winner
1973	Dutch Open	Wolfgang Bochow	15–6, 8–15, 15–6	Winner
1973	Swedish Open	Svend Pri	15–5, 6–15, 10–15	Runner-up
1973	U.S. Open	Derek Talbot	15–4, 15–4	Winner
1973	Mexico International	Roy Díaz González	15–4, 15–4	Winner
1973	Jamaica International	Wolfgang Bochow	15–9, 15–12	Winner
1973	Nordic Championships	Svend Pri	6–15, 8–15	Runner-up
1974	German Open	Wolfgang Bochow	11–15, 18–15, 15–12	Winner
1974	Dutch Open	Svend Pri	7–15, 7–15	Runner-up
1974	Denmark Open	Svend Pri	11–15, 5–15	Runner-up
1974	Swedish Open	Klaus Kaagaard	15–3, 15–11	Winner
1974	Jamaica International	Roy Díaz González	15–2, 15–7	Winner
1975	Dutch Open	Flemming Delfs	15–14, 0–15, 11–15	Runner-up
1975	Swedish Open	Svend Pri	17–15, 8–15, 9–15	Runner-up
1975	Mexico International	Thomas Kihlström	15–6, 11–15, 11–15	Runner-up
1975	Norwegian International	Flemming Delfs	1–15, 5–15	Runner-up
1975	Nordic Championships	Flemming Delfs	15–6, 12–15, 15–3	Winner
1976	Swedish Open	Ray Stevens	15–12, 15–10	Winner
1976	Norwegian International	Flemming Delfs	15–4, 1–15, 15–7	Winner
1977	German Open	Derek Talbot	12–15, 18–15, 15–7	Winner
1977	Dutch Open	Derek Talbot	15–8, 6–15, 13–18	Runner-up
1978	Norwegian International	Steen Fladberg	15–10, 5–6 retired	Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1967	Norwegian International	Kurt Johnsson	Erland Kops Elo Hansen	8–15, 11–15	Runner-up
1968	French Open	Kurt Johnsson	Horst Lösche Gerhard Kucki	15–6, 3–15, 2–15	Runner-up
1968	Norwegian International	Kurt Johnsson	Tom Bacher Klaus Kaagaard	9–15, 7–15	Runner-up
1969	Norwegian International	Gert Perneklo	Jørgen Mortensen Klaus Kaagaard	8–15, 4–15	Runner-up
1971	Norwegian International	Bengt Fröman	Kurt Johnsson Thomas Kihlström	12–15, 9–15	Runner-up
1975	Mexico International	Thomas Kihlström	Flemming Delfs Elo Hansen	15–11, 13–15, 5–15	Runner-up
1976	Mexico International	Stefan Karlsson	Ray Stevens Mike Tredgett	6–15, 5–15	Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1969	Norwegian International	Eva Twedberg	Kurt Johnsson Karin Lindquist	15–7, 15–7	Winner
1973	U.S. Open	Eva Twedberg	Thomas Carmichael Pam Brady	18–13, 15–12	Winner
1973	Jamaica International	Eva Twedberg	Mike Tredgett Margaret Beck	15–3, 18–15	Winner
1975	Mexico International	Ofelia de Telge	Thomas Kihlström Judianne Kelly	9–15, 8–15	Runner-up

Summary

Rank	Event	Date	Venue
Open Championships
1	Men's singles	1974, 1976	Swedish Open
1	Men's singles	1965, 1968, 1976	Norwegian International
	Mixed doubles	1969
1	Men's singles	1968	French Open
1	Men's singles	1973, 1974	Jamaica International
	Mixed doubles	1973
1	Men's singles	1972, 1973	U.S. Open
	Mixed doubles	1973
1	Men's singles	1972, 1973	Mexico International
1	Men's singles	1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977	German Open
1	Men's singles	1972, 1973	Dutch Open
1	Men's singles	1969, 1972, 1975	Nordic Championships
National Championships
1	Men's singles	1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979	Swedish Nationals
	Men's doubles	1970, 1972

References

1. Pat Davis, The Guinness Book of Badminton (Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlatives Ltd., 1983) 115.
2. "Badminton's first world championships", World Badminton, July–August 1977, 3.

External links

• Sture Johnsson at Olympedia
• Sture Johnsson at Olympics.com