Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov have beaten Kaisti Anton and Larkimo Oskari from Finland, as they look to win the tournament in Minsk.
The Russian Doubles pair have had quite a break from individual competition badminton since they played the Malaysia Open in April.
A solid win
The match was as much of a routine win as they come, but the pair won in a professional manner and did not take anything for granted.
- A very good start for us, a two straight games win against Finland. We now have a good advantage and it was an easy win for us today, Ivan Sozonov said.
- The arena is nice, it is a little small but it helps our attack. We hope with the good tactics; we can reach the knockout stage and win this tournament, Vladimir Ivanov added.
Wanting revenge
Ivanov and Sozonov won the Silver medal at the 2015 European Games in Baku but lost to Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, in the final.
The pair believe they also have a challenge this year, but a different type of Danish conundrum to solve.
- Of course, we want to take revenge here. At this tournament, it is a different Danish pair, to Boe and Mogensen in Baku, but as powerful as Kim (Astrup) and Anders (S.Rasmussen) now, Sozonov said.
- There are so many good pairs here, Germany are looking strong, and there are chances for a lot of pairs to win on all levels, he added.