The first day of the European Mixed Team Championships Qualification is over. On a long day of badminton, 16 out of 26 teams played their first matches with Ukraine, Spain, Ireland, and Scotland all winning their openers 5-0. Let's have a look at the results of each group:
Group 2:
All four teams of this group stepped on court in Haarlem, Netherlands, today. In the afternoon, Estonia faced Israel in what turned out to be one of the closest matches of the day - at least based on the final result. Estonia was trailing 1-2 after mixed doubles and both singles matches were played, but they turned it around to win 3-2 in the end.
"At first we were a little scared and played too fast. But then we understood in the second and third game that we needed to play softer and move them around. I think that was the key to our win", said Kati-Kreet Marran from Estonia after winning the women's doubles with Helena Rüütel in three games to tie the team match at 2-2.
In the evening session, the Netherlands faced Italy in another entertaining fight. Katharina Fink won the opening women's single for Italy, and Giovanni Toti almost extended the lead. But Joran Kweekel fought until the end and finally equalised the team match fro the hosts winning 21-16, 19-21, 25-23 in 55 minutes. The remaining matches all went to the Netherlands in straight games to make the final score 4-1.
Find detailed results
here.
Group 3:
Both ties in Group 3 were a clear affair today. Both Ukraine and Spain won their matches 5-0.
The Spaniards were able to do without their superstar Carolina Marin, who only arrived in Switzerland in the evening and will be available for her team from the second group match on Saturday.
In Ukraine's 5-0 victory over Greenland, only one match lasted longer than 30 minutes. Maluk Tiger and Cecilia Josenius from Greeland won the only game for their country in mixed doubles. After starting 22-20, their opponents Yakovlev/Tkach came back stronger and won the match 21-5, 21-6.
Find detailed results
here.
Group 4:
Just like in Group 3, there were two clear victories to be seen here. The two top-seeded teams from Scotland and Ireland prevailed in their respective subgroups without any problems with 5-0 each.
Ireland did not give Portugal the slightest chance. The team around the young singles specialist Nhat Nguyen did not lose a single game in five matches and will play Sweden on Saturday to advance to the group finals.
Scotland also beat Luxembourg without losing a game. In Glasgow, the host team was even able to do without their best singles player Kirsty Gilmour, who recently had slight injury problems but reported fit in time for the team event.
Find detailed results
here.
Group 5:
Finland took on Lithuania in the first match of Group 5, Subgroup 2, in Sofia, Bulgaria. The team of coach Ville Lang showed a dominant performance and won 4-1. Lithuania only managed to win the women’s single and has only little chances to still make it out of Subgroup 2. “It’s nice to start the campaign with a win. Now, we will get some rest and be back in two days to play Austria”, said Finland’s Lang after the match.
In the afternoon, host Bulgaria also won its opener 4-1 against Slovenia. In the beginning, Slovenia took the lead in mixed doubles and also started strong in the men's single. Andraz Krapez had already won the first game 21-15 before Bulgaria's Daniel Nikolov turned it around 21-17, 21-15 to equalise the team match at 1-1.
After that, Bulgaria won in women's singles and men's doubles before the Stoeva sisters closed out the day with a 21-9, 21-16 win in women's doubles over Zoja Novak and Lia Salehar. "It was a tough one because we felt the pressure playing on home soil. But the team played really well and we fought for every match", stated Stefani Stoeva after the match.
Find detailed results from Group 5
here.
The first matches on Friday will start at 9:00AM CET in Sofia, Bulgaria.