We wave goodbye to January in Reykjavik, where the RSL Iceland International 2023 closed its 34th edition.
Since its first edition back in 1986, Denmark and England have been quite successful in the Iceland International — with the host country still as the one ahead in terms of medals. This year, the Danes and the English players have earned some good results once again.
England has dominated the doubles with two golds in women’s doubles with Abbygael Harris/ Annie Lado, and in mixed doubles Brandon Zhi Hao Yap/ Annie Lado. Yap has also won a silver in men’s doubles with Alex Green. In the same event, England’s Koon Fung Kelvin and Jamaica's Samuel O’Brien Ricketts have won the bronze.
Amongst the Danish medallists, there are several young talents that also achieved great results in last year’s European Junior Championships — Hjalte Johansen/ Emma Irring Braüner have finished as runner-ups in Reykjavik and Johansen has gotten the 3/4th spot with Calvin Lundsgaard while Jeppe Søby, who won two Junior medals, is this year’s Iceland International men’s doubles champion with Jonas Kudsk.
Kati-Kreet Marran/ Helina Rüütel started the year with a bronze medal on home soil at the Estonian International and will be closing the first month with two medals after winning a second bronze in Iceland.
Matthias Kicklitz takes the title
The road for the gold was not an easy one for Germany's Mathias Kicklitz. The 21-year-old played to three games in all the decisive stages. Still, Kicklitz defeated Dane Karan Rajan Rajarajan to take the title. It will be interesting to see more from the German player in the European Circuit.
Italian duo Katharina Fink/ Yasmine Hamza also delivered with a great result as the women's doubles runner-ups; similarly, Keisha Fatimah Az Zahra won the silver in what has been a great tournament for the player representing Azerbaijan.
The next tournament of the European Circuit will be the 58 Portugal International Championships which will be taking place from 8 until 12 March.
However, there is one big event not to miss out on before we head to Portugal. The 2023 European Mixed Team Championships are just two weeks away, and all matches will also be streamed on badmintoneurope.tv. Stay tuned for the latest news on all our events.