Events

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BEC Time Travel: 2019 European Mixed Team Championships
Date: 12/2/2020 12:09 PM
Published by : Alan Raftery
The qualification stage for the 2021 European Mixed Team Championships is played next week. We take a look back at what happened in the 2019 edition. 

Copenhagen was the host city of the European Mixed Team Championships, held 13–17 February 2019. However, the journey began at the qualification stage which was held 7–9 December 2018, in seven cities across Europe.

The groups were held in Milton Keynes (England), Ciorescu (Moldova), Caldas da Rainha (Portugal), Aire-sur-la-Lys (France), Erlangen (Germany), Sobótka (Poland), Sofia (Bulgaria). 

In just three of the groups, the host nation secured qualification. England, France and Germany won on home soil, while Russia, the Netherlands and Spain upset the group hosts. In Group 7, where there were two sub-groups in Portugal, Ireland scored a big 3-2 win over hosts Bulgaria and then defeated Norway in the playoff. 

The final eight
The final eight teams were split into two groups of four, with the top two teams after a round-robin advancing to the semifinals.

In group 1, the hosts and reigning champions, Denmark, navigated their way to the top of the group without much fuss. Only dropping two tight three-game matches in the women’s doubles against France and the Netherlands. 

Second place came down to a winner takes all match against France and the Netherlands. The Dutch were too strong on the day, winning 4-1. France’s point came from Marie Batomene defeating Gayle Mahulette in the women’s singles. Key matches came in the mixed doubles, with Tabeling/ Piek winning a close three-game match against the promising young pair of Gicquel/ Delrue. Also, in the men’s doubles, Tabeling/ Maas came from behind to win their match 23-21 in the decider. 

In group 2, Russia came through top with three wins out of three. Notably, defeating England 3-2. Germany also succumbed to a determined Russian team, 5-0, and once again second place came down to the final group match. Germany vs England. The Germans piled on the pressure with a shock win in the men’s singles from Kai Schaefer over Rajiv Ouseph, 21-18, 26-24. This, followed up by a solid win by Yvonne Li over Chloe Birch, set the score to 2-1 for Germany. 

The men’s doubles became the pivotal match. Lamsfuss/ Seidel, although able to run the Olympic bronze medallists close in the past, they had never beaten Ellis/ Langridge before. Until this day, where they gave a dominant 21-18, 21-10 performance to secure the win for Germany. This was the first time England failed to qualify from the group stage in 15 years. 

Semifinals 

Denmark vs Netherlands
Germany vs Russia

Denmark made quick work of the Netherlands, winning 3-0. The closest match that may have put pressure on the hosts was Mark Caljouw forcing a decider against Viktor Axelsen, in one of the matches of the tournament. 

In what was a very even match on paper, the Germans were keen to overturn their 5-0 loss in the group stage. This time, the Germans played their number one pair, Lamsfuss/ Herttrich in the mixed doubles against Ivanov/ Bolotova and got the win. Vladimir Malkov had just enough to draw it level in the singles against Kai Schaefer. 

Yvonne Li was able to step up her level and flip the two-game loss against Evgeniya Kosetskaya in the group stage into a well-fought three-game victory. Similarly, Lamsfuss/Seidel lost to the strong Russian duo of Ivanov/ Sozonov, 27-25 in the decider of their group stage clash. But when it mattered the most, they booked a spot in the final for their country with an emotional 21-14, 21-19 win.
 
The final
The strength of Denmark in this event is clear to see, but the final had the feeling that a lot of Germany’s game was left on court against Russia in the semifinal. Since their memorable gold in 2013, Germany has settled for bronze in 2015 and 2017, so the silver in 2019 was a huge feat for them. 

For the hosts Denmark, they ensured their undefeated status on home soil in this event and picked up their 17th championship in 25 attempts. In the final, it was a straight game 3-0 victory: 

XD - Mathias Christiansen/ Christinna Pedersen bt Mark Lamsfuss/ Isabel Herttrich, 21-12, 21-12
MS - Anders Antonsen bt Max Weisskirchen, 21-9, 21-13
WS - Line Kjærsfeldt bt Yvonne Li, 21-16, 21-17

For more information about next week’s EMTCQ, click here

Matches will be streamed on badmintoneurope.tv

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