Stefani Stoeva maintained her dream of double gold this afternoon at the semi-final stages of the 2013 European Junior Individual Championships with victory in both her women’s singles and women’s doubles semi-finals. Stoeva has had her heart set on winning gold in the individual tournament this week and as a result was used sparingly in the team event which in hindsight looks to have been a wise choice as fatigue starts to play its part in such a long tournament.

In a similar vein to her quarter final victory over Natalia Koch Rhode, Sefani Stoeva was cautious in her approach to the first game of her semi-final today against Delphine Lansac of France. Lansac’s determination took her close in the first game but Stoeva took the game in the end 21-18 which settled her nerves and broke the resolve of the gutsy French champion.

The second game was all one way traffic and Stoeva’s superior fitness levels took her to a deserved 21-8 win as Lansac finally ran out of steam after 10 long days of competition in which she played 13 matches. “I was nervous in the first game and did not really play to my best. The second game was better and I think Dephine got tired and mentally she ran out of ideas.”

Stoeva continued her winning form alongside sister Gabriela in the women’s doubles semi-final but unlike the singles event she was made to battle the whole way before coming through in three games against Russian duo Dergunova & Kosetskaya.

Daugaard in the mix for two titles

David Daugard is also within striking distance of two gold medals after a pair of victories in both men’s and mixed doubles. Daugard came through in three games against fancied German pair Volkmann and Lamsfuss in the mixed before ending the run German outsiders in the men’s doubles Pistorius and Seidel.

In an emotional charged match, which saw Daugaard’s partner Mathias Christiansen land himself a yellow card, it was Daugaard who held the pair together to come through in two games 22-20 21-16. “This was a match full of emotions and we had some issues with the line and service judges. But overall we are happy to win and I am very happy to be going for two gold medals tomorrow.

A better day at the office for Denmark

Team Denmark have endured a few unexpected results in this tournament to date but the semi- finals proved to a lot more successful that even they could have hoped for. Out of six pairs or individuals in action today five managed to make it through to the finals with only the men’s singles missing Danish involvement in tomorrow’s finals.

Line Kjaersfeldt is without doubt the big favourite for the women’s singles title after a gold medal winning performance against Turkish darling of the courts Neslihan Yigit. The Dane controlled the match from start to finish and hardly looked out of breath as she spoke to Badminton Europe in her post match interview.

“I played to my tactic today which clearly worked. I knew that after winning the opening game I had to get out fast in the second as Neslihan would try everything to come back at me. In the end she had nothing left for the last few points and I knew I had it won at 16-8 in the second when I could see she had given up”

The men’s singles will have an unlikely pair in tomorrow’s final as both Fabian Roth and Mark Caljouw came through their semi-finals today in three sets. Joining Caljouw in the finals are compatriots Tabeling and Halkema who look to have the game to trouble their Danish opponents in Sunday’s finals.

The 2013 European Junior Championships Finals:

MS: Fabian Roth (GER) vs Mark Caljouw (NED)
WS: Line Kjærsfeldt (DEN) vs Stefani Stoeva (BUL)
MD: Antonsen/Babic (DEN) vs Daugård/Christiansen (DEN)
WD: Stoeva/Stoeva (BUL) vs Finne-Ipsen/Hansen (DEN)
XD: Tabeling/Myke (NED) vs Daugård/Fruergaard (DEN)

All the action will start at 10am (local time) and can be watch live and for free on BE.tv by clicking HERE

For all todays results click HERE

Article and Image by Mark Phelan (Live in Ankara)