Kim Astrup

Kim Astrup Sørensen (born 6 March 1992) is a Danish badminton player. He was the men's doubles gold medalists at the 2018 European Championships and the 2023 European Games with his partner Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. He also won the bronze medal at the World Championships in 2021 and later a silver medal in 2023. Astrup joined the Denmark winning team at the 2016 Thomas Cup in Kunshan, China, where he and his teammates beating Indonesia 3–2 in the final. Together with Rasmussen, he reached a career high of World number 5 in September 2018.

As junior player, Astrup won the bronze medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships in the boys' doubles. He later won a gold in the mixed doubles and bronze medals in the boys' doubles and team events at the 2011 European Junior Championships.

Career
Astrup picked up a badminton racquet when he was 8 years old in Videbæk, Denmark. He enjoys the sport and continues to train intensely every day. He realized he had talent and pursued that dream through badminton. At the age of 18, he was entrusted to be part of the Danish junior team to compete at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. Partnered with Rasmus Fladberg, he won the boys' doubles bronze medal. At the 2011 European Junior Championships in Vantaa, Finland, he won three medals. He managed to win the mixed doubles gold with Line Kjærsfeldt, and also bronze medals in the mixed doubles and team events. Despite his young age, Astrup has also made his mark in the senior level. In 2011, he won two men's doubles titles at the Swedish Masters and Croatian International, as well as a mixed doubles title at the Scottish International.

Unfortunately in 2012, Astrup was unable to win a single title. He was only being able to reach the mixed doubles final at the Denmark International tournament with Kjærsfeldt. At last, the Astrup Fladberg and Astrup Kjærsfeldt partnerships came to an end, since his partners will focused on single event. He made a new partnership with Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the men's doubles and with Maria Helsbøl in the mixed doubles. Astrup and Rasmussen made it to 6 finals including two Grand Prix in the Bitburger Open in Germany and Scottish Open tournaments, and also won 2 Continental circuits in the Portugal and Belgian International. Meanwhile, Astrup and Helsbøl were finalists in 2 tournaments, Denmark and Kharkiv International.

In 2016, Astrup joined the Denmark winning team at the 2016 Thomas Cup in Kunshan, China, where he and his teammates beating Indonesia 3–2 in the final.

In 2018, Astrup emerge victorious in the men's doubles at the European Championships. In the final, Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen received an easy win to their compatriot Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding, after Kolding had to withdraw due to abdominal injury before going into the second game. In September, Astrup and Rasmussen claimed their first ever BWF World Tour Super 1000 title in the China Open after beating host pair Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong in the final. Their victory at that tournament, led them up to 5th place in the BWF ranking.

Astrup competed at the 2019 European Games, and won the silver medal in the men's doubles with Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

Astrup competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the men's doubles partnering Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. The duo were eliminated in the quarter-finals to Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen.

At the 2021 World Championships, Astrup and Rasmussen won the bronze medal. The duo were defeated in the semi-finals by the Chinese pair He Jiting and Tan Qiang,

In 2023, Astrup managed to win the gold medal at the European Games with his partner Rasmussen. As the first seed, they beat the second seeded pair from Great Britain Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in a tight match. At the BWF World Championships, he and his partner then upgraded the bronze to silver that they won in 2021, after battling the final match in Royal Arena against the rising Korean pair Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae which ended in defeat in a close rubber game.

World Championships
Men's doubles

European Games
Men's doubles

European Championships
Men's doubles

BWF World Junior Championships
Boys' doubles

European Junior Championships
Boys' doubles

Mixed doubles

BWF World Tour (9 titles, 4 runners-up)
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Men's doubles

BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 3 runners-up)
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Men's doubles
 * BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
 * BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (7 titles, 7 runners-up)
Men's doubles

Mixed doubles
 * BWF International Challenge tournament
 * BWF International Series tournament

Record against selected opponents
Men's doubles results with Anders Skaarup Rasmussen against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 22 September 2023.