Events

Four in a row for Primorye
Date: 6/14/2015 1:40 PM
Published by : Manuel Røsler
Primorye Vladivostok won an unprecedented fourth European club championship in a row this afternoon in Tours, France making them the most successful club in recent history with six titles in the last nine years. The Russian champions were hot favourites coming into today’s final against AIX Universite after the French team lost their talisman Ronar Labar who had to travel to the USA today.

Primorye could not have asked for a better start to the final as Ivan Sozonov and the evergreen Valeria Sorokina crushed, what was potentially a dangerous pairing, of Nedelcheva and Grosjean for AIX. Sorokina in particular was outstanding as she went from strength to strength as the competition wore on and delivered the opening point to the Russian 21-12 21-11.

When the match line up was released AIX knew that to have a chance against the Russians they needed to win both singles and in truth the French team were favourites to do so. Both Indra Bagus and Lianne Tan had been outstanding all week but 1 from two singles was the return for the French which ultimately was to be too little.

Indra Bagus took the opening set against Vladimir Ivanov with an exhibition of flamboyant but effective men’s singles play. But just as he did in his semi-final the tall Russian came back to take the match in three games which proved a watershed moment in the overall tie.

Lianne Tan did what she did all week and walk on court and blitzed her way to yet another win. 6 matches in both singles and doubles and not a singles loss, actually not a singles set dropped. Without doubt the MVP of the tournament and an end to a great season for the Belgian.

“I have enjoyed my time here this week and this match went according to plan. I just moved my opponent all over the court, played at a high tempo and took my chances” said the Belgian number one.

That was the icing on the cake from an AIX perspective as Primorye unleashed Ivanov and Sozonov in the men’s doubles and it was fitting that the European Champions delivered the winning point to the Russian in two sets against Grosjean and Citron to take the title 3-1.

“To win the European club championship is very important for our club as we want to always prove that we are the best team in Europe. Four titles in a row in any competition takes a bit effort and big commitment. The players can be really proud of this achievement” said head coach Klaudia Majorowa.

The 2016 edition of the European Club Championships will once again return to Tours to be hosted by CEST Badminton and given the high level of preparation and delivery of this year’s event, the 2016 European Club Championships is sure to be an even bigger success.

To revisit all the action from today’s finals subscribe to Badminton Europe’s YouTube channel by clicking HERE.

To look back over the extensive photo galleries from the weeks play in Tours follow Badminton Europe on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Article by Mark Phelan, Photo by Ben Phelan (Live in Tours)
©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

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