General

Evans: We could make some surprises
Date: 1/28/2013 11:58 AM
Published by : Manuel Røsler

Scott Evans is the biggest star of Irish badminton. After winning the Irish Open in December, the 25-year-old continued his good form on Sunday, as he won the 2013 Cyprus International beating England's Andrew Smith in two games. Two weeks before the 2013 European Mixed Team Championships will take place in Ramenskoe, the Irishman spoke exclusively to badmintoneurope.com.

badmintoneurope.com: Scott, easy win in Cyprus. Would you agree?

Scott Evans: I would not say easy. I do not think it is easy to win an international tournament. My goal for the tournament was to win and I am happy I did that.

What are Ireland’s chances at the 2013 European Mixed Team Championships?
I think we have a good team this year and we could make some surprises in the group stages if we perform well as a team. We have France. Finland and Israel in our group. I think France will be our toughest opponents. They have a strong team and we will need to be at our best to beat them. I think we have a very good chance of beating Finland and I am sure it will be an exciting match. Against Israel it is a game we must win. We have a good record against Israel and we hope to keep it that way.

Who do you think will win the tournament in Ramenskoe?
I think its between four teams: Denmark, England, Germany and Russia. These teams are very strong in every match so I think the semi finals will be very exciting. Unless there has been some upsets made in the group stages - who knows.

What makes a team event so special?
I think because badminton is an individual sport with individual tournaments it makes the team events very special.

Is it your first time in Russia? Or have you been there before?
I have been in Russia twice before for the Whites nights tournament in July. It's a beautiful place and I am looking forward to going again. If I can get my visa (laughs).

How have you rated the 2012 badminton year for yourself?
I would not say 2012 was my best year. I was happy to be apart of London Olympics but I don't think my performances over the year were very good. I think the last few months of the year things started to change and I started to play better so I am working towards making 2013 my best year.

Photo by BadmintonPhoto.

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