Thomas Kihlström Explained

Thomas Kihlström
Birth Date:	11 December 1948
Country:	Sweden
Handedness:	Right

Thomas Kihlström (born 11 December 1948) is a former badminton player from Sweden known for his agility, tactical astuteness, and coolness under pressure. Though an impressive singles player early in his career, his greatest successes came in doubles. Kihlström is a fine doubles player with a superb technique and lovely touch. Partnering Stefan Karlsson, they have been one of the consistent pairs and making them as one of the great doubles pairs in the world in their era.^[1]

Career

Kihlström won the 1983 IBF World Championships in mixed doubles with Nora Perry.^[2] He also won 16 medals at the European Championships, two of them in men's singles, two in mixed doubles, five in men's doubles and 7 in team competition. He shared two All-England men's doubles titles, one with Bengt Fröman in 1976 and the other with Stefan Karlsson in 1983. He also shared the All-England mixed doubles title with Nora Perry in 1983.^[3] From 1973 to 1988 Kihlström captured a total of twenty-four events at the Swedish National Championships. Kihlström competed during an era in which world class badminton became increasingly event-specialized. His skill as an "all-arounder" is demonstrated by the facts that he is the only player to have won medals in all three events, men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles at the BWF World Championships, and is the only man to have won each of these three events at the Japan Open.

Achievements

World Championships

Men's singles

Men's doubles

Mixed doubles

World Cup

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1983	Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Karen Chapman	Christian Hadinata Ivana Lie	15–12, 10–15, 4–15	Bronze
1984	Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia	Nora Perry	Christian Hadinata Ivana Lie	15–18, 15–13, 15–8	Gold
1986	Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia	Christine Magnusson	Steen Fladberg Gillian Clark	4–15, 15–8, 7–15	Bronze

World Games

Men's doubles

Mixed doubles

European Championships

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1974	Vienna, Austria	Sture Johnsson	7–15, 8–15	Silver
1978	Preston, England	Flemming Delfs	15–10, 6–15, 12–15	Silver

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1976	Dublin, Ireland	Bengt Fröman			Bronze
1978	Preston, England	Bengt Fröman	Ray Stevens Mike Tredgett	6–15, 5–15	Silver
1980	Groningen, Netherlands	Bengt Fröman	Claes Nordin Stefan Karlsson	16–18, 15–9, 13–15	Silver
1982	Böblingen, West Germany	Stefan Karlsson	Mike Tredgett Martin Dew	15–9, 15–3	Gold
1986	Uppsala, Sweden	Stefan Karlsson	Steen Fladberg Jesper Helledie	12–15, 17–18	Silver

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1984	Preston Guild Hall, Preston, England	Maria Bengtsson	Martin Dew Gillian Gilks	5–15, 15–17	Silver
1986	Uppsala, Sweden	Maria Bengtsson			Bronze

IBF World Grand Prix

The World Badminton Grand Prix was sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006.

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1983	Swedish Open	Stefan Karlsson	Steen Fladberg Jesper Helledie	15–4, 13–15, 10–15	Runner-up
1983	All England Open	Stefan Karlsson	Martin Dew Mike Tredgett	15–10, 15–13	Winner
1984	Chinese Taipei Open	Stefan Karlsson	Steen Fladberg Jesper Helledie	15–3, 15–6	Winner
1984	Japan Open	Stefan Karlsson	Martin Dew Steve Baddeley	15–6, 15–6	Winner
1984	Swedish Open	Stefan Karlsson	Kim Moon-soo Park Joo-bong	8–15, 15–10, 8–15	Runner-up
1985	Swedish Open	Stefan Karlsson	Di Qiqing Li Yongbo	12–15, 18–14, 15–18	Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1983	Swedish Open	Nora Perry	Dipak Tailor Barbara Sutton	15–7, 15–1	Winner
1983	All England Open	Nora Perry	Steen Skovgaard Anne Skovgaard	18–16, 11–15, 15–6	Winner
1985	Swedish Open	Maria Bengtsson	Lee Deuk-choon Chung Myung-hee	15–5, 11–15, 15–7	Winner
1985	All England Open	Gillian Clark	Billy Gilliland Nora Perry	10–15, 12–15	Runner-up
1986	World Grand Prix Finals	Christine Magnusson	Nigel Tier Gillian Gowers	15–8, 4–15, 8–15	Runner-up

International tournaments

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
1972	Norwegian International	Petter Thoresen	15–7, 15–4	Winner
1973	USSR International	Wolfgang Bochow	10–15, 15–4, 8–15	Runner-up
1973	Norwegian International	Elo Hansen		Runner-up
1976	U.S. Open	Paul Whetnall	14–17, 10–15	Runner-up
1977	Canada Open	Flemming Delfs	15–12, 7–15, 10–15	Runner-up
1977	Japan Open	Flemming Delfs	9–15, 15–13, 15–10	Winner
1978	Denmark Open	Liem Swie King	15–8, 9–15, 7–15	Runner-up
1978	Canada Open	Flemming Delfs	17–14, 11–15, 16–18	Runner-up
1980	Norwegian International	Kenneth Larsen	15–0, 15–11	Winner
1980	Victor Cup	Flemming Delfs	15–7, 15–10	Winner
1980	Nordic Championships	Morten Frost	4–15, 7–15	Runner-up
1981	Canada Open	Nick Yates	16–17, 12–15	Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1971	Norwegian International	Kurt Johnsson	Bengt Fröman Sture Johnsson	15–12, 15–9	Winner
1972	Norwegian International	Bengt Fröman	Klaus Kaagaard Per Walsøe	14–18, 13–18	Runner-up
1973	USSR International	Bengt Fröman	Wolfgang Bochow Roland Maywald	15–13, 15–10	Winner
1973	Norwegian International	Bengt Fröman	Fraser Gow Robert McCoig		Winner
1975	German Open	Bengt Fröman	David Eddy Eddy Sutton	15–13, 15–5	Winner
1975	Norwegian International	Bengt Fröman	Flemming Delfs Elo Hansen		Runner-up
1976	German Open	Bengt Fröman	Ray Stevens Mike Tredgett		Winner
1976	All England Open	Bengt Fröman	Svend Pri Steen Skovgaard	15–12, 17–15	Winner
1976	U.S. Open	Bengt Fröman	Willi Braun Roland Maywald	15–18, 12–15	Runner-up
1977	German Open	Bengt Fröman	Gert Hansen Steen Skovgaard		Winner
1977	Denmark Open	Bengt Fröman	Flemming Delfs Steen Skovgaard	15–6, 15–8	Winner
1977	Canada Open	Bengt Fröman	Eddy Sutton Derek Talbot	16–17, 15–11, 15–10	Winner
1978	Swedish Open	Bengt Fröman	Flemming Delfs Steen Skovgaard	18–15, 9–15, 8–15	Runner-up
1978	Nordic Championships	Bengt Fröman	Flemming Delfs Steen Skovgaard		Runner-up
1978	Canada Open	Bengt Fröman	Flemming Delfs Steen Skovgaard	9–15, 15–10 retired	Winner
1979	English Masters	Bengt Fröman	Ray Stevens Mike Tredgett	18–16, 15–9	Winner
1979	Polish International	Tor Sundberg	Michal Malý Juraj Lenart	15–3, 15–13	Winner
1980	Swedish Open	Bengt Fröman	Ade Chandra Christian Hadinata	5–15, 15–12, 9–15	Runner-up
1980	English Masters	Stefan Karlsson	Ade Chandra Christian Hadinata	12–15, 12–15	Runner-up
1980	Norwegian International	Lars Wengberg	Peter Holm Hans Olaf Birkholm	15–7, 15–11	Winner
1980	Victor Cup	Claes Nordin	Flemming Delfs Steen Skovgaard	15–5, 18–17	Winner
1981	Copenhagen Cup	Stefan Karlsson	Rudy Heryanto Kartono	15–10, 12–15, 17–15	Winner
1981	Swedish Open	Stefan Karlsson	Bobby Ertanto Hadibowo	15–6, 15–4	Winner
1981	English Masters	Stefan Karlsson	Martin Dew Mike Tredgett	9–15, 15–2, 10–15	Runner-up
1981	Canada Open	Ray Stevens	Steve Baddeley Martin Dew	15–8, 15–11	Winner
1981	India Open	Stefan Karlsson	Rudy Heryanto Kartono	6–15, 15–8, 17–15	Winner
1982	Swedish Open	Stefan Karlsson	Christian Hadinata Lius Pongoh	11–15, 8–15	Runner-up
1982	Scandinavian Cup	Stefan Karlsson	Steen Fladberg Steen Skovgaard	15–13, 13–15, 15–10	Winner
1983	Chinese Taipei Open	Stefan Karlsson	Bobby Ertanto Hadibowo	9–15, 11–15	Runner-up
1983	Japan Open	Stefan Karlsson	Rudy Heryanto Razif Sidek	18–14, 6–15, 15–6	Winner
1983	English Masters	Stefan Karlsson	Rudy Heryanto Kartono	12–15, 15–8, 15–11	Winner
1984	Nordic Championships	Stefan Karlsson	Mark Christiansen Michael Kjeldsen	15–11, 14–18, 18–14	Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1976	U.S. Open	Pam Brady	David Eddy Susan Whetnall	6–15, 15–10, 12–15	Runner-up
1981	Dutch Open	Gillian Gilks	Mike Tredgett Nora Perry	15–12, 15–6	Winner
1981	Canada Open	Gillian Gilks	Ray Stevens Nora Perry	12–15, 15–6, 15–0	Winner
1982	Denmark Open	Nora Perry	Martin Dew Gillian Gilks	15–11, 15–9	Winner
1982	Victor Cup	Nora Perry	Martin Dew Gillian Gilks	9–15, 15–9, 15–9	Winner
1982	Scandinavian Cup	Nora Perry	Steen Fladberg Pia Nielsen	18–15, 15–12	Winner
1982	Nordic Championships	Maria Bengtsson	Steen Skovgaard Hanne Adsbøl	6–15, 10–15	Runner-up
1983	Japan Open	Nora Perry	Martin Dew Gillian Gilks	15–5, 15–2	Winner
1985	Malaysia Master	Christine Magnusson	Steen Fladberg Nora Perry	9–15, 5–15	Runner-up
			Martin Dew Gillian Gilks	17–15, 15–12
			Stefan Karlsson Maria Bengtsson	15–10, 9–15, 10–15
1985	Nordic Championships	Christine Magnusson	Stefan Karlsson Maria Bengtsson	9–15, 7–15	Runner-up

Notes and References

1. Web site: Preview of World Championships: 10th-16th June 1985 . World Badminton . June 1985 . 27 May 2024 . 3.
2. Pat Davis, The Guinness Book of Badminton (Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlatives Ltd., 1983) 111.
3. Davis, 107, 108.