Events

Denmark come full circle to take gold
Date: 3/26/2013 1:08 PM
Published by : Manuel Røsler
Vantaa, Finland in 2011 was a sad place to be if you were a Danish player or a fan of Danish badminton. Little did Denmark realise at the time but that 2013 European Junior Team Championships was to be the catalyst for Germany to end the Danish dominance in team events for the following two years.

Today in Ankara, Turkey Team Denmark redressed the balance and once again proved to the rest of the continent that they indeed are the best and have the young players coming through to be the best for a long time to come.

This was a different Danish team that arrived in Turkey this week. This was a team that was determined to win and a team that would not settle for anything less than gold. Head coach Jim Laugesen, himself a European Junior champion from 1993, instilled a new sense of belief and determination in his young team. Laugesen led from the front and his young charges delivered with a decisive 3-0 win.

Mixed doubles duo of Mathias Christiansen and Line Kjaersfeldt led the way for the Danes and blew French duo of Kersaudy and Tran off the court in under half an hour. Kjaersfeldt was once again the outstanding player on court and Mathis Christiansen summed up her contribution eloquently. “Line was outstanding today. She is world class and it is a pleasure to be selected to play alongside her”

Mathias Mundbjerg followed up the mixed success with a defiant victory over Jocelyn Deschamp in the men’s singles. The Danes net play was a treat for the huge volume of spectators and he delivered the second point for Denmark with 21-8 21-13 victory.

“I played better today again than I did yesterday. At times it was hard to concentrate with the noise but I made very few mistakes and when you make few mistakes you can win badminton matches”

The final match was always going to be critical. On court two of the best ladies singles at the tournament went to battle and what a battle it proved to be.

French starlet Delphine Lanscac took the opening game in easy fashion before Anna Thea Madsen came back in the second to level the score. The third set was a nail biter and we even had a small object thrown onto the court mid rally which did little to break the concentration of either player. In the end a combined total of 6 matches played this week for Lansac against just three for Madsen was probably the deciding factor and the Danish team stormed the court when Madsen won the crucial point in the third 21-18.

“This is an amazing feeling. To get the winning point for my team is something that I will remember forever. We deserved this win and I think we were the best team and this puts to bed the disappointment from Finland two years ago” said an overjoyed Madsen to Badminton Europe after the final.

There will be little rest for all players as just a few hours after the team event ended the individual event started and they players will have to do it all over again as they try to add individual medals to the medals won in the team event.

For all results from today’s games click HERE
For full Facebook photo gallery follow Badminton Europe by clicking HERE
For all latest news about the European Junior Championships follow Badminton Europe on twitter by clicking HERE
To watch today’s action on demand and the LIVE individual action tomorrow go to badmintoneurope.tv by clicking HERE

Article and Image by Mark Phelan (Live in Ankara)
©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

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