Some of the CoE players have been performing at the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships last week in Lievin, France – Artem Pochtarev (Ukraine), Dimitar Yanakiev (Bulgaria), Felix Burestedt (Sweden), Gayle Mahulette (Netherlands), Jonathan Dolan (Ireland), Kari Gunnarsson (Iceland), Katerina Tomalova (Czech Republic), Milan Ludik (Czech Republic), Milan Dratva (Slovakia).
Jonathan Dolan, who is a member of Ireland’s Men’s Team, played six matches overall – both singles and doubles. After a 4-1 win against the Polish team, they lost to Russia (5-0) and Austria (3-2), ending up the third in the group.
-In 5/6 of the matches I performed to a good level but it was hard to play singles and doubles in every team match both mentally and physically, Dolan explains, adding:
-I feel as though things are going in the right direction. Match practice is vital in sharpening the tools I have already learnt in preparation for the next run of three competitions coming up.
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Team spirit
Most players would agree that the team events give a different feeling mentally, compared to all the other tournaments they got to play over the season. For Dolan, playing with the Irish team has been fun and exciting:
-As badminton players we usually compete as individuals, so it was a nice change of setting, and I really enjoyed it. It’s a proud feeling to represent your country.
Over the week, Dolan played doubles with Nhat Nguyen, beating Poland’s Adam Cwalina/Wiktor Trecki and Austria’s Philipp Drexler/Wolfgang Gnedt and losing to Russia’s Rodion Alimov/Ivan Sozonov.
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Next step
After the build-up phase, the CoE players are slowly getting back to the performance phase. The expectations for every player may vary. So what’s coming up next for Dolan? He will play in Slovak Open next week, facing another CoE player Milan Dratva (Slovakia) in the first round.
-I am feeling good in my body and my level is getting to where I want it to be. On any day anything can happen so I will just take it one day at a time.
-I just want to perform my best level, if I can reach close to it, then that’s what matters most to me. Winning matches is a bi-product of performing to your best.