Selena Piek and Cheryl Seinen from the Netherlands played a 'dreamy' women’s doubles quarterfinal on Friday against Lauren Smith and Sarah Walker from England.
The Dutch have played them twice before with success, but Smith and Walker have recently finished a successful campaign 'Down Under' at the Commonwealth Games, so Piek and Seinen came prepared for the worst.
- They won, I think, a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games so we just prepared the best we could, and I think everything worked out very well for us today, Piek told Badminton Europe.
- It was amazing actually! Right before we started, we dreamed of playing a match like this.
The draw has opened doors
Piek already has a collection of two European medals in women’s doubles; bronze from 2014 and silver from 2016. Due to the withdrawal from the first seeds, she sees an opportunity for an upgrade.
- If I look at it through a professional perspective, it opens doors for us. But on the other hand, I get that the fans might be a little disappointed because they are two amazing badminton players which I have huge respect for.
- I achieved my goals of reaching medals but obviously I am always hungry for more, and gold would be the ultimate dream here.
Find more results from the 2018 European Championships here