Russia is ready for the knock-out stage at the European U17 Team Championships.

All eyes are on Russia. Going into the last day of the group stage the Russian favourites had won two out of two ties in Group 1 beating Sweden (4-1) and Cyprus (5-0). Against Slovenia, the Russians showed that they are in Poland to win.

Russia won without any trouble, and the top seed did not even drop a game against Slovenia, who finished thirdin the group. 

Victory for rookie women’s singles
One of the five victories was the women’s singles. Aleksandra Chushkina made her debut for the Russian team,beating Lina Pipan 21-9 21-11.

- I think the match was quite difficult. Some shots were quite well, some were bad, but I will be working on it, Chushkina mentioned. 

- I think my motivation was the key to win. It is my first European Championships, she added.

- We will win
Russia comes out of the group as winners, and Chushkina is confident that the Russian team will do well in the knock-out stage.

- Of course I think we will win, but there are a lot of good teams like Germany, Denmark and Ukraine, Chushkina said.

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