Thomas Kihlström (born 11 December 1948) is a former

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

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.

Career

Kihlström won the 1983 IBF World Championships in mixed doubles with Nora Perry. He also won 16 medals at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, 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 The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the Badminton World Federation, BWF's latest grading system, it was given BWF Super Series, Super Series st ...

men's doubles titles, one with

Bengt Fröman Bengt Fröman is a retired male badminton player of Sweden noted for his doubles play. He won the prestigious All-England men's doubles title in 1976 and the bronze medal at the 1977 World Championships in men's doubles both in partnership with ...

in 1976 and the other with Stefan Karlsson in 1983. He also shared the All-England mixed doubles title with Nora Perry in 1983.Davis, 107, 108. 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 The BWF World Championships, formerly known as IBF World Championships, and also known as the World Badminton Championships, is a badminton tournament sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The tournament is one of the most prestigious i ...

, 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''

World Games

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

European Championships

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

International tournaments

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kihlstrom, Thomas 1948 births Living people Swedish male badminton players World Games medalists in badminton World Games gold medalists World Games silver medalists Competitors at the 1981 World Games