On Friday 7 December, the European Mixed Team Qualification round will get underway across the continent, including Group 5 in Erlangen, Germany.
The competition will run until Sunday 9 December with two countries playing each other in the different categories on each day.
It is a ‘winner takes all’ situation with only the country which finishes top of the tree able to advance to the finals in Copenhagen, Denmark in February.
Friday is when it all begins
The matches in Group 5 are taking place at the Emmy-Noether-Sporthalle in Erlangen and will begin at 18:00 of this Friday (7 December). First Austria will take on Sweden before the remaining countries to play, Germany and Slovenia, face each other.
Find the draws for the week here
Germany is the outright favourite for Group 5, with a whole host of players that are used to performing on the big stage.
A strong squad for Germany
The Germany Badminton Association has selected eleven male players and nine female players, many who are fresh from the recent European BWF tournaments.
Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Emil Seidel will compete in the team and will help the perhaps less experienced players like Daniel Hess to grow into the fierce competition to try and win a place at the finals.
Also chosen to compete are Isobel Herttrich and Linda Efler who will no doubt be looking to show everyone what they can do especially after reaching the last four in SaarLorLux in October.
Germany with the biggest squad
The hosts have listed 20 players for the European Mixed Team Qualification, making it the biggest squad in Group 5.
Sweden has the second biggest squad with the Scandinavian nation taking twelve players, whereas both Slovenia and Austria will take eight players each.
Find the nominated players for each team of Group 5 here: