Events

Xanthou from Greece is looking forward to representing his country once more at the 2018 European Championships. (Photo: Mark Phelan for Badminton Europe)
EC qualifier: I am very proud
Date: 2/26/2018 4:11 PM
Published by : Emma Lollike
Illias Xanthou found his name on the list of eligible players for the 2018 European Championships. He has qualified to represent his home nation of Greece in men’s singles.

- I didn't except it and I was really surprised, Xanthou told Badminton Europe earlier on Monday. The 25-year-old Greek is currently living and training at BEC’s Centre of Excellence in Holbæk, Denmark.

- At the Center of Excellent the training is very professional. The coaches really help and improve all the players who participate. I am very happy about my training at the center.

Xanthou participated at the European Championships in Kolding last year but believes that his time at the training centre has helped him improve and qualify for the championships once again.

Badminton Europe’s flagship event will this year be organized in Huelva, Spain; the hometown of the reigning champion Carolina Marin. And the countdown for event start on 24 April 2018 has already begun.


The qualification process
Xanthou is not the only Centre of Excellence-player that has also qualified for a spot at the European Championships. Milan Ludik from Czech Republic, Matej Hlinican from Slovakia, Iikka Heino from Finland and Elias Nicolaou from Cyprus has also earned a spot.

But it is important to mention that even though the players have qualified according to the list of eligible players, their member associations must get back to Badminton Europe’s events department and accept the qualification in ‘Phase 1’, and this must be done no later than 1 March. 

Next waits ‘Phase 2’, where Badminton Europe will update the list of eligible players from the acceptances or rejections from the member associations. The new list will then be announced the next day, and the member associations have until 6 March to accept or reject the new list.

‘Phase 2’ may not have any effect on all players, but for the players with a yellow number a rejection from a player ranked higher than themselves can mean a spot at the 2018 European Championships. COE players Gerda Voitechovskaya from Lithuania and Felix Burestedt from Sweden, for example, still have a chance to qualify in ‘Phase 2’.

Go to 2018 European Championships event webpage by clicking here.

Find lists of eligible players in all five events below:

©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

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