Men Player of the Year 2009: Interview with Jonas Gustafsson
03 Mar 2010 at 20:38 | Published by: Hans | Views: 9340 | News search
Jonas Gustafsson playing in the final in Odense 2009 (Photo by Hans Bergström 2009)
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Interview with Jonas Gustafsson (JG), Sweden and Jönköping BGK
This interview was done the 2nd of March 2010. Interviewer is Hans Bergström (HB).
HB: First of all congratulations to a great season of 2009 which lead to the vote for “Men player of the Year” on Minigolfnews. How do you rank this award compared to others you already have won?
JG: Thank you very much! And also thanks to all people that voted for me! Hard to compare this to the victory of WC but of course, it´s always very nice to get an award like this!
HB: You won both the public vote and the expert jury vote. Which of them do you value the most?
JG: Difficult to chose one. But the public vote contents more people so I think I say that as my answer.
HB: Have your life changed in any way since you have become a World Champion? Are you recognized on the streets of your hometown?
JG: Ha-ha, maybe not recognized on the streets, but a lot of people in my town knows about minigolf at all and about that I won the WC: We have got a lot of articles and interviews in the newspaper and the local radio in the last year. Not only me, also Sandra Weaver and also the team in Elitserien.
HB: So how do you feel about the upcoming season? Will it be possible to find the motivation after a year of success such as last year?
JG: The motivation for the league play is higher than ever because we want to win the league for the first time! Right now my motivation for European championship is a little bit lower, because my focus is my team (Jönköping) but I think that the motivation for EC will get higher when the tournament comes closer, and maybe, maybe, I will be in Italy in august.
HB: How does your season planning look like for 2010?
JG: I´m not finished with my season planning yet. As I said above, my focus this year is on my club-team. We want to win the league and also play the European cup. Due to my work, I am not sure that I can get free 2 weeks for European champ. So right now it looks like I will not play in the national team. But nothing is decided yet, and if I can get free without problems, I will be there!
HB: WMF TC recently announced that the plan of having both a stroke champion and a match play champion could not find enough support to go through. So it will still be only one champion after match play. What do you think about that decision?
JG: GOOD! To have two different champions in one tournament, it will make the sport ridiculous. I have always liked the match play but can also understand the reason to play stroke play. But not both!!
HB: What do you think about the upcoming Swedish Elitserie season? Who are the favorites?
JG: The favorite is of course Uppsala. All three rounds of the leagues are played in the region of Stockholm/Uppsala and that will give Uppsala a big advantage. But I know that we have a good team and with a good start and well trained players we will give them a big fight! Also Tantogården has a good team but I think that they are a little bit behind us and Uppsala.
HB: If you could recruit any player in the world, as long as it’s not a Swede, to play for you club who would you pick?
JG: Harald Erlbruch, no doubt! In my opinion, the best minigolf-player.
HB: What happens next for you in Minigolf?
JG: Right now I just play small competitions at home. The first real competition will be in Borås in April. And after that, the first round of Elitserien in May.
HB: Again a big congratulation to the title “Men player of the year” and good luck in the future.
JG: Thank you very much!
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