The new season is in full swing after International Challenge trips to Ukraine and Belgium and this week the tour moves to the Polish city of Lubin for the International Series (5,000 USD) rated tournament for the second instalment of the Polish International.

Last years edition of the Polish International set the new European benchmark in organisation and set up of an International series and this year’s edition will be no less spectacular with a host of events outside of the hall as part of the week long celebrations in the city.

On the court there will be a stern test for Europe’s circuit players with a strong Asian entry as the Chinese Taipei team continue their European tour and are sure to feature come the medal ceremony on Sunday.

European hopes hinge on Men’s Doubles

It goes without saying that Europe’s best chance of the top step of the podium will come in the men’s doubles with Poland and Denmark leading the charge for glory.

Adam Cwalina and Przemyslaw Wacha (pictured) showed good form in Belgium last week are continue to grow as a pair after Wacha ditched singles to team up with Cwalina for the foreseeable future. The Poles will look to flourish on home soil and have a favourable draw right through to the semi-finals.

Danish duo of Nøhr and Overgaard look the biggest danger to the Poles in the top half of the draw and Scottish third seeds Campbell & MacHugh will fancy their changes in the easier side of the draw.

Uphill struggle for Europe in single events

Chinese Taipei are likely to dominate the singles event with both Lin Yu Hsein (MS) and Cheng Chi Ya (WS) proving almost unbeatable in this early part of the new season. Add into the mix the top seeded Misbun Ramdan Sidek (MS) of Malaysia, a three time winner in Europe last season, and the enormity of the challenge facing the European players becomes apparent. However Europe will not be without hope as Mattias Borg made it to the final of the recent Kharkov International in Ukraine and Danish Player Mikkel Mikkelsen has been improving steadily over the past 12 months.

In the women’s singles Danes Mette Poulsen and Anna Thea Madsen will pose the greatest threat to Asian domination while young Ukrainian Natalya Voytsekh has the strokes to beat the best on any given day.

Mixed Opportunity for home players

Lukaz Moren and Agnieszka Wojtkowska offer a clear outside chance for some Polish success in the mixed doubles. A new combination for this tournament the Poles might just lack the game time to really push for the podium but a first round match against Chinese Taipei opposition will give an early indication of the home duo’s credentials.

All the action can be followed live on Badminton Europe’s YouTube channel with all matches from the steaming court starting with qualification rounds on Thursday 19th September. There will be live commentary for semi-finals and finals. Click HERE to subscribe and watch.

For full draw from Poland click HERE

Article by Mark Phelan. Photo by BadmintonPhoto.

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