Brenda Beenhakker


Brenda Beenhakker is a retired Dutch badminton player. She is the former European junior champion in the girls' singles event in 1995. She won Dutch National Championships for 8 times; 5 times in singles and 3 times in doubles.

Career

Beenhakker surprised as a seventeen-year-old junior in 1995 by becoming women's singles Dutch National champion. When she was eleven, she became the Dutch junior champion for the first time. Hereafter several youth titles in her and higher age categories followed. A few months after her first championship with seniors in 1995, she was also crowned as European Junior Champion, becoming the first ever Dutch to win the girls' singles title. Beenhakker played badminton for BC Smashing in the Dutch premier league. She won a bronze medal at the 2002 European Badminton Championships in Malmö, Sweden. She stopped playing international tournaments in April 2006, after a badminton career lasting for 19 years.
The Arnhem player started badminton when she was ten years old, after having been interested in playing tennis before. Beenhakker is married, has a daughter and has been working at a childcare center in Wijchen since 2008. As of 2009/10 season, she succeeded Frans Rademaker as trainer of BC Smashing. She had also given training at the Dutch clubs BECA Arnhem and BC Mariken in Nijmegen.

Achievements

European Championships

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2002Baltiska hallen, Malmö, Sweden

European Junior Championships

Girls' singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
1995Športová hala Olympia, Nitra, Slovakia

IBF International

Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
1995Welsh Internationalsilver2