The paddle has taken the Swedish people by storm.
The tennis profile Jonas Björkman was early in building halls – and has through it earned a lot.
Jonas Björkman is undoubtedly one of Sweden’s best tennis players of all time. The Swede has two Grand Slam semi-finals on the merit list, but it is in doubles that he has been the most successful.
Invested in a new sport
Throughout his career, he won a total of an incredible 54 doubles titles – nine of them in Grand Slam tournaments. The fine title harvest led to him being world number one in doubles, and was ranked as the best four in singles.
When he ended his career in 2008, he did so as one of the country’s top tennis players ever. After his years as a tennis professional, he has, among other things, devoted himself to television – where he competed in both Lets Dance and the Champions of Champions.
He has also found another hobby in sports. Namely the paddle that has been developed at rocket speed in recent years.
Senseless money rain
Together with three other people, Jonas Björkman founded PDL Group in 2015, and the company has grown considerably with the paddle interest increasing among the Swedish people.
– We had dreams… and thought it was a sport that would work in Sweden. We have a lot of racquet sports in the country. And the sport is so much easier to get into and learn compared to others, plus you can be on different levels and have fun. That is what we saw as the strength of it, says Jonas Björkman to Göteborgs-Posten.
According to the newspaper, PDL Group had sales of SEK 374 million last financial year, and went up by as much as SEK 74 million.
– It has gone incredibly well! And we do not feel really ready. We still think it’s fun because there is a lot in youth and junior ventures that you can build. We have not really had time for that yet. Now that it is possible to add that bit with a good coach, it is fantastic fun, comments Björkman.
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