Events

Photo by Ben & Mark Phelan for Badminton Europe during #EMTC17: Viktor Axelsen (DEN)
Draw sets the stage for explosive quarters
Date: 4/11/2017 2:15 PM
Published by : Emma Lollike
Following the seeding last week, Badminton Europe has officially published the simple knock-out draw for the 2017 European Championships. Two weeks prior to the tournament, the last part of the puzzle has been put in place and the countdown for the most prestigious badminton event on the continent can now begin.

Men’s singles
Danish top seed Viktor Axelsen’s first seeded encounter looks to be from Spain in the shape of Pablo Abian. While his countryman Anders Antonsen and Marc Zwiebler of Germany must, according to their seeding, battle to be his opponent in the semi. In this top half of the draw, strong players like Scott Evans, the fighting spirit from Ireland, former finalist Henri Hurskainen (Sweden), Mark Caljouw (Netherlands) and Zvonimir Durkinjak (Croatia) are waiting in the wings. 

In the opposite end of the draw, Rajiv Ouseph [2] from England will most likely have to get past the new national champion of Germany, Fabian Roth, before either Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (Denmark) or Brice Leverdez (France) potentially awaits in the semi-final. 

Women’s singles
Even though the reigning champion Carolina Marin (Spain) has yet to win a title in 2017, she is to be expected to reach the final in Kolding. The real challenge will be to predict who will become her opponent. The stage is set for the quarter-final encounter between Denmark’s Line Kjærsfeldt and Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour. Kjærsfeldt has yet to play a European final and is finally, after many draws the last year, in the opposite half of Marin. Now the great question is if she will be able to take advantage of that, and the draw has put her up against Gilmour who was in the final last year.

The winner of those two still has the second seeded Beatriz Corrales (Spain), who has the best result in her career to play for; a European Championships final. 

Men’s doubles
The seeding from last week drew the lines for an exciting men’s doubles tournament and the crowd can look forward to some fireworks already from the quarter-finals. Second seeds, Mads Pieler Kolding and Mads Conrad-Petersen of Denmark, have a tough draw to defend their maiden European title from last year. They collide with England’s Olympic bronze medalists, Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge, before their countrymen Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen are their potential opponents in the semi. 

In the top half, the top seeds, Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe (Denmark) seem to have Ivan Sozonov and Vladimir Ivanov (Russia) as their only real threat. The Danish world class pair has had some early exits the last couple of months and must be hungry for a major title. 

Women’s doubles
Selena Piek’s injury will be put to the greatest test, as Eejfe Muskens and herself are seeded for a quarter-final against 4th seeds from Russia, Anastasia Chervyakova and Olga Morozova. Piek has been off court for a while, and the Dutch constellation’s 5th seeding can possibly disguise their real potential as they were in the final last year. 

Nevertheless, the toughest opponents still await in the top of the draw with the top seeds Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen [1] of Denmark.

3rd seeds Sara Thygesen and Maiken Fruergaard (Denmark) were recently crowned national champions in a city not far from Kolding, and are seeded for quite the quarter-final against Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria [2]. Both pairs have made fair results in the recent Superseries tournaments.

Mixed Doubles
The Danish top seeds, Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen will probably have their first worry in the semi-final, where the Polish Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba will face Jacco Arends and Selena Piek of the Netherlands battling to be their opponent. 

Even though Chris and Gabrielle Adcock are ranked no 7 in the world, they have never won a European medal. The year of 2008 was the last time the English duo won the European Championships in mixed doubles. Seeded 2nd at #EC17, the Adcocks are predicted to collide with Mathias Christiansen and Sara Thygesen of Denmark. Remarkable results this past year for this new constellation proves they are in it for the win, and can possibly create trouble for the English in a semi-final.

The draws were conducted this morning and are yet to be officially confirmed by the referee.
Get the full picture of the seeding and draws for #EC17 by clicking here.

The 1st round of matches will commence on 25 April and the finals will be played on 30 April 2017.

Tickets are still available here.

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