Finally it is here, the greatest show on earth comes to London and after the excitement of the draw on Monday the athletes can now focus on the task ahead as they prepare for what will be for most a once in a lifetime Olympic experience.

The journey to the Olympics has been a difficult road for most of Europe’s badminton elite and even some of the top stars had to struggle with Injury and loss of form as they endured the year long struggle to qualify for this a home European Olympics in London.

All things considered the draw has been somewhat favourable for some of Europe’s genuine medal hopes. Danish singles will never get a better chance to deliver a medal as the threesome of Gade, Baun and Jørgensen were handed a decent route to the last 16 and beyond.

Peter Gade finds himself in a two player group with Portugal’s Pedro Martins. Not only should the veteran European hero see off the challenge of Martins but the fact that he will have one less group match that most others will surely favour those aging limbs. Assuming he advances to the last 16 stage, Gade will most likely face off against 13th seed Shon Wan Ho, winner of the Indian Super Series not so long ago but still an excellent draw for the Dane.

Jan Ø. Jørgensen to will have a sneaky confident smile on his face. His biggest group challenge will come from Derek Wong and the second match against Misha Zilberman should be, on paper, a good confidence boast for the number two Dane ahead of a possible last 16 clash with Lee Hyun Il.

Elsewhere in the men’s singles home hero Rajiv Ouseph (pictured) will be counting his lucky stars after drawing Kevin Cordon and European silver medallist Henri Hurskainen. From a European perspective the matchup between Ouseph and Hurskainen is sure to be one of the ties of the group stage which will ultimately decide the fate of both players.

Luck was not on the side of Scott Evans and Ville Lång

The luck of the draw was certainly not on the side of Irelands Scott Evans or Finnish number one Ville Lång. Evans has drawn the player who most consider the best player to ever grace the court as well as being reigning Olympic and world Champion, the one and only Lin Dan. Lång has a two man group against Mr consistent Lee Chong Wei but upsets happen and one feels that if the European boys have to play these superstars they might as well do it in the first round and who knows they just might catch the world’s two greatest players off their guard.

European Champion Marc Zwiebler will fancy his chances of progressing from his group but will come up against the stiffest of opposition in the last 16 where he will most likely meet Chen Jin.

Probably most European pressure will fall squarely on the shoulders of the queen of European badminton Denmark’s Tine Baun. Still that major championship medal eludes Baun and she will see this Olympics as her last big chance and the draw certainly has helped her in that quest for a major medal.

Baun and Schenk in all-European pool

Baun should cruise through her group against Prokopenko and Augustyn and a possibly last 16 match against Japan’s Sato is more than the Great Dane could hope for. Baun’s 4-0 winning record over the Japanese shuttler should see her through to the semi final where at that point anything can happen.

Like Baun, Germanys Juliane Schenk has an all European group but will be severely tested at last 16 final stage assuming she has the mental state of mind to get off to a good start against Griga and Gavnholt.

In the men’s doubles there are no easy matches and with groups of four the European contingent will be tested to their max. Europe’s only realistic threat of a step on the podium, Boe and Mogensen will be expected to top their group but a possible quarterfinal against Fang and Lee could be a potential banana skin.

"Group of death" for Pedersen and Juhl

In the women’s doubles former European champions Sorokina and Vislova will be fighting it out for second spot in the group given the presence of top seeds and favourites Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli while group D, the women’s doubles group of death includes Pedersen and Juhl from Denmark. The Danes will have to find a consistent run of form to exit this group against three Asian pairs but if they do make it out well then a medal is distinctly possible.

Finally, the mixed doubles is all about group A and the meeting of Chris Adcock/Imogen Bankier and Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei for the fifth time since the gold medal world championship meeting last year in the very same venue. The head to head shows 2-2 and it is logical to say that the winner of this match at the group stage will have medal form going into the business end of the tournament.

Group B has an interesting European slant to its construction and don’t be surprised to see both European pairs Fischer/Pedersen and Mateusiak/Zieba advancing to the quarter finals. On the flip side Laybourn and Juhl have a real battle ahead to make it out of their group and will certainly need to improve on their European Championship form to trouble their opposition.

All the action kicks off on Saturday with the hype and atmosphere already building as athletes and staff arrive in London. One thing is for sure, come Saturday every player will have to be on top of their game both physical and more so mentally as the greatest show on earth kicks off in one of London’s most famous venues, the Wembley Arena.

Article by Mark Phelan, Photo by BadmintonPhoto.