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(Photo: Badminton Photo)
EC Legends: Robert Mateusiak/ Nadiezda Zieba
Date: 4/13/2021 10:01 PM
Published by : Alan Raftery
With just a fortnight to go until the 2021 European Championships, we take a look at one of Europe’s finest mixed doubles pairs, Robert Mateusiak/ Nadiezda Zieba, who after a few bites at the cherry, achieved European glory. 

Mateusiak and Zieba are unique in several ways. Zieba, a bright young talent, reflected her upbringing on the Polish-Belarusian border by teaming up with Kamila Augustyn. Zieba flying the green and red of Belarus, Augustyn the red and white of Poland, together stormed to a 2001 European Junior Championships gold in Spala, Poland. 

Robert Mateusiak, eight years Zieba’s senior and who interestingly was converted from a left-handed player to a right-handed one by his coach, had already experienced European success with Michal Logosz, winning the European bronze in 2000 – Poland’s first European medal. 

Partnering up a few years later was perhaps the key ingredient to kickstart the Polish golden generation. Their unique style made them a pair to be feared on the world stage. Mateusiak with his unnaturally sharp speed and anticipation, coupled with his deceptive hitting action, and Zieba, the taller of the two was comfortable and consistent in the rear court and defence. 

The tough climb to the top of the podium
Often in sport we see incredible generational talents unluckily coming up against other top opponents, blocking their path to writing themselves into the history books. This was slowly looking like the case for Poland’s Mateusiak/ Zieba. 

In 2006, they came up against eventual champions, Thomas Laybourn/ Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark in the semifinal, losing out by the narrowest of margins, 21-23 in the third game and had to settle for bronze. 

In 2008, they delivered a stellar performance in the semifinal against the top-seeds, 2004 Olympic silver medallists and former European Champions, Nathan Robertson/ Gail Emms. In the final, they faced fellow bronze medallists from 2006, Anthony Clark/ Donna Kellogg. Despite taking early initiative, in a tough three-game battle, it was silver for them. 

In 2010, it was the case of the top two seeds facing off in the final. Once again they met Laybourn/ Rytter Juhl, who this time were reigning World Champions from their famous win in 2009 defeating Nova Widianto/ Lilyana Natsir in the final. The Poles also took a win against the Indonesian pair in 2009 when winning the Hong Kong Open. The final went to three, but the Danes were able to pick up their second European gold. 

At this stage, it would be understandable if they began to think that perhaps European glory wasn’t to be. Mateusiak was into his mid-thirties, an age where most players are already winding down their careers. However, like a fine wine, they kept getting better. 

Keeping rising up
In June 2010, just a few months after their European silver, Mateusiak/ Zieba scored a colossal win. They entered into the exclusive club of Europeans to have won the prestigious Indonesia Open, defeating Hendra Setiawan/ Anastasia Russkikh in a raucous final. This catapulted them to number one in the world rankings. 

In a disjointed preparation for the 2012 European Championships in Karlskrona, Sweden, the Poles found themselves as seventh seeds. This meant that they faced the number one seeds in the quarterfinal, the 2011 Denmark Open champions, Joachim Fischer/ Christinna Pedersen. However, Mateusiak/ Zieba efficiently dismantled their game and for the fourth time in a row booked their spot in the final four. 

In the semifinal, the 2011 World Championships silver medallists, the Anglo-Scottish combination of Chris Adcock/ Imogen Bankier awaited them. They each exchanged games of 21-17, with Adcock, in particular, the aggressor in the second game. Although, the experienced Polish pair pressed all the right buttons in the deciding game, stretching to a seemingly comfortable 17-8 lead. Perhaps a little too comfortable as Adcock/ Bankier gained confidence and began scraping back the points. With a nervy finish, squandering two match points and at 20-19, Mateusiak left a short serve from Bankier to then drop to his knees in celebration. 

The expectation was to have a repeat of the 2008 final against the second-seeded Laybourn/ Rytter Juhl. However, in a shock defeat to their compatriots, Mads Kolding/ Julie Houmann were the last pair between them and the European crown. 

The final
Mateusiak/ Zieba came out fast in the final, wrapping up the first game 21-12. In the second game, they maintained a small lead until match point, 20-17. It was clear that the pressure of the situation dawned on them at that moment – they were so close to a historic title. Four messy rallies later they found themselves a game point down at 20-21. With mistakes then creeping in for Kolding/ Houmann, Mateusiak/ Zieba somehow managed to hold it together and win that European gold they have been fighting for. The special moment can be watched here

The pair went on to compete in the London 2012 Olympics, reaching the quarterfinal, agonisingly losing 21-23 in the third game to eventual silver medallists, Xu Chen/ Ma Jin. They repeated the feat in Rio 2016, the only European pair in the last eight, but once again lost out to eventual silver medallists, this time Chan Peng Soon/ Goh Liu Ying. 

Robert Mateusiak was 40 in Rio and took part in an incredible five Olympic games in his career. Joining Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana as the only players to have accomplished this achievement. 

The 2021 European Championships will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine from 27 April to 2 May.

All matches can be watched www.badmintoneurope.tv
©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

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