General

(Photo: Badminton Europe)
BEC Time Travel: Scottish Open 2019
Date: 11/22/2020 11:50 AM
Published by : Alan Raftery
This week, the Scottish Open would have taken place. Due to the COVID-19 situation the tournament has been cancelled. Badminton Europe looks back at previous editions of the tournament and today we take a look at the last year’s Scottish Open featuring winners Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn. 

The young 20-year-old Danes, recently runners-up at the SaarLorLux Open, are causing quite a stir in European women’s doubles. Looking back at their strong run in 2019, ending with the Scottish Open, we see all of the indicators for this year’s success. 

After a ‘runner-up year in 2018, with two finals appearances to add to their silver at the European Junior Championships in Tallinn. In 2019, they went on a title-winning run through the Swedish Open, Dutch International, Polish International, Irish Open and the Scottish Open. 

The latter was a memorable one for the pair as it topped off a breakout year for them. 

-We remember this tournament very well as we were in a good winning streak at this time last year. So, this tournament is ranked very high as the Scottish Open always has been a great tournament to play. 

It would have been great to see if they can retain their title this year, a feat that the top pair in Europe, the Stoeva sisters achieved in 2018 before.

-It’s of course very sad that we can’t defend our title in Scotland as we have always loved to come to Scotland and play. It’s a very professional setup and an amazing audience.


Familiar faces
The tournament began with two solid early rounds, then a very dominant performance against the number three seeds from Russia, Akchurina/ Morozova in the quarterfinal. A pair they know well and played just a week before.  

-We had played Akchurina/ Morozova a few times and we knew they were a good pair. So, we knew that we had to play at the same level as we did the week before to beat them. 

Getting to the semifinal, Magelund/ Ravn faced the number two seeds from Sweden, Emma Karlsson and Johanna Magnussen, a pair they know even better. After losing in that European Junior Championship semifinal they have played five times and won. Explaining if that lost match in 2017 sparked something in them, Magelund states. 

-After loosing in the semifinal to Emma and Johanna, we have always played many close matches with them. I think we eventually found the right way to play them for us to win the matches.

This time, a dominant 21-13, 21-14 performance booked their place in the final. 

Emma Karlsson has last week announced her retirement, read about it below. 


Two tournaments in a row
In an all-Danish final, Mai Surrow and Julie Finne-Ipsen were their opponents. It is a little different playing your compatriots with such high stakes and older Danes took the opening game. 

-We didn’t play a very good match in the final and especially not in the first game, so we knew we had to change something if we wanted to win. We tried to play at a higher pace and being a bit more aggressive, especially in the defence. 

This worked. After fighting to a 21-15 win in the second game, it was all them in the decider, ending 21-6, and fifth title of the year. 

-We were very happy that we managed to win even though we didn’t play our best in the final. But the thing we were happiest with was that we were able to keep a high level throughout two tournaments in a row (following the Irish Open). That showed us that we were on the right track in our development. 

©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

Related news
27/03/2024
EOC Executive Committee awards 2027 European Games to Istanbul
The European Olympic Committee...

27/03/2024
Madrid Spain Masters day 2: Victories, upsets, and excitement on court.
French siblings sweep to victo...

26/03/2024
A first action-packed day unfolds at the Spain Masters
The Madrid Spain Masters 2024 ...

26/03/2024
Spain Masters begins today with an unexpected withdrawal!
Madrid is buzzing with excitem...

25/03/2024
Lane/ Vendy and Marin, victorious at Swiss Open
The Swiss Open concluded this ...

24/03/2024
Marin and Lane/Vendy secure finalist spots at the Swiss Open
The semifinals have concluded ...

More news