The draw for the 2018 European Men’s & Women’s Team Championships - hosted in Kazan, Russia- has been conducted on Tuesday. Home favourites Natalia Perminova and Ivan Sozonov are looking forward to the tournament.
‘European Championships in Kazan is a great challenge for us. But I can say we have a young and highly motivated team!’, Natalia (pictured below, photo: Mark Phelan) comments about her team. Russia’s women’s team is fourth seeded and placed in group 4 together with Turkey, Estonia and Latvia.
‘The strongest opponent in our group will be Turkey’ Natalia stated her expectation to Badminton Europe. ‘It is going to be an exciting match, but of course we will concentrate on every match we play!’
As for the expectations towards the rest of the tournament Natalia says: ‘ We are looking forward to get a medal. I do think we make a chance for it’. (Natalia is currently playing Irish Open)
Read: Madsen taking one tournament at a time
Pressure on men’s singles
Also Russia’s men’s team is fourth seeded and placed group 4. Russia’s men’s teams includes Ivan Sozonov (pictured below, photo: BadmintonPhoto), currently number 7 in men’s doubles with Vladimir Ivanov . They will face Bulgaria, Spain and Belgium during group stage.
‘We have never played against these opponents! I think Belgium and Spain have strong men’s singles. The singles are the most important points for us, because we have advantages in doubles in all group matches’ Ivan commented about the coming matches.
For the group match against Bulgaria, Ivan has better expectations. ‘We could do well against Bulgaria and take a maximum score’ Ivan states. ‘If our single player plays his best game, I don’t think we have a problem to proceed to the knock-out stage’ Ivan continued.
Read: Stefani Stoeva and Bulgaria have podium ambitions
‘Glad for hosting this event’
Both Natalia and Ivan are glad that the European Men’s & Women’s Team Championships are held in their home country. Natalia: ‘I am proud that we have an opportunity to organize such an event!’
Ivan added: ‘We are happy to play in our country. Especially when we will play against the best European players!’
Ivan hopes that playing in front of the home crowd, will lead to great results for his team.
‘We are hoping that many people will come and support us! And give us positive emotions, confidence and luck to win a medal!’
Rewatch the women’s draw with Mia Blichfeldt at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKMgiqwFVng
Rewatch the men’s draw with Milan Ludik at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKMgiqwFVng