Quarter and semi final day at the Polish International brought few surprises but did unearth an unlikely hero in the form of Dmytro Zavadsky (pictured) of the Ukraine. Zavadsky, who has suffered a dramatic loss of form since reaching the final of his home tournament back at the start of the current European circuit season, defied all the odds to move into tomorrow’s final with a spirited three game win over Dutch Open GP champion Hsuan Yi Hsueh of Chinese Taipai before defeated defending champion Pablo Abian of Spain in the semi final.

The pint sized Ukrainian release of emotion was clear as he raised his hands to the heavens after his victory. There was a double reason to celebrate for Zavadsky after his close rival for the Ukrainian Olympic spot, Valariy Atrashenkov was beaten in the quarter finals handing a distinct point’s advantage to Zavadsky as the race to London enters the final straight. The Ukrainian will now face Jen Hao Hsu in tomorrow’s final.

In the mixed semi finals Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork proved they are the pair to beat as the effectively crushed all en route to tomorrow’s final. They will meet an unlikely pairing in the form of fellow English youngsters Ben Stawski and Lauren Smith after the new kids on the block reached the final after Nadia Zieba had to withdraw due to injury. This being the case this young pair are certainly ones to watch for the future.

“We have played well this week after the disappointment of loosing that important match against Adcock and Bankier at the Swiss Open. But a win here will keep us in with a shout of going to London and will put pressure back on them” said Robertson to Badminton Europe.

Turkish starlet Neslihan Yigit continued on her merry way in this tournament as she defeated a resurgent Anastiasia Prokopenko in two sets to set up a final against top seed Ai Goto from Japan. In the women’s doubles it is another tournament and yet another final for Olver and Agathangelou as they push towards London. The final will be a repeat of the Swedish Open back in January where the English girls emerged victorious against Obanana and Lee of the USA.

In the men’s doubles semi finals there was no joy for either Dutch pairs as Khodabux/De Ruiter and Bosch/Ridder went down to higher seeded opposition. Tomorrow’s final will be played out between the two top seeds and arch rivals Sozonov/Ivanov of Russia and home favourites Cwalina & Logosz who are sure to draw a large crowd tomorrow on finals day.

“We started off fast and hard and they never really got into the game at all. Actually I felt that they (Bosch/Ridder) looked a little bit uninterested on court. But we just focused on playing our game and really a win here tomorrow will almost get us to the Olympics for sure so we are 100% focused on this” said the Poles to Badminton Europe.

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Article and Images by Mark Phelan (Live in Poland)