What a difference a year can make in sport and this certainly was the case this morning for Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier as their medal hopes lay in shreds in the venue that saw them claim silver medal at last year’s World Championships.

In a similar vein to yesterdays match against the Russians the GB pair took the opening game and looked to be in control with the support of the packed Wembley arena behind them. But sport can be cruel and in the blink of an eye the German pair of Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels raised their own game to a whole new level to end the dreams of Adcock and Bankier 21-17 in the third game.

The delight was there to be seen on the faces of the Germans but Bankiers post match tears and comments were all that was needed to highlight the disappointment she was evidently feeling. “I am devastated. We have put so much into our preparation but it just did not happen for us at these games”

Chris Adcock put a brave face on proceedings from a British perspective and with one group match still remaining Adcock was in defiant mood. “We still have one more group match left. We will want to give a really good performance and win for these fantastic supporters. It will also be important for our own confidence”

The Germans are now right back in the mix in group A and go into tomorrow’s show down with the Russians with nothing to lose. “Against the Russians it will be a winner take all match.” Said Michal Fuchs “We are the underdogs so we have nothing to loose. It will be a battle for the second spot as I fully expect the Chinese to win their match and top the group”

Memories are still fresh of Sabrina Jaquet’s tears of joy in Sweden after she secured her qualification for these games at the European Championships but today Jaquet struggled to hold back the tears of disappointment after going down heavily to medal hopeful Saina Nehwal of India.

“This has been an emotional two days for me and it is difficult to actually talk about it. I didn’t expect too much today but yesterday I felt I put way too much pressure on myself and just failed to perform.” Said a visibly upset Jaquet after her heavy defeat.

There were mixed emotions for the rest of the Europeans as the evening progressed. Carolina Marin was given a master class by arguably the best female singles player on the planet at the moment, Li Xuerui as the Chinese controlled her way to a two game win.

Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl had a major part to play in the best women’s doubles match of the day and had the undivided attention of the whole arena as they overcame the persistent challenge of Hong Kong opposition in three games.

German men’s doubles pair Kindervarter and Schloettler will rue missed chances against superstar Chinese pair Cai and Fu. The Germans had a golden chance to take the opening game but eventually lost out 22-20 before the Chinese closed out the match with a 21-16 win in the second game.
One of the final matches on court featured Chloe Magee who has had to wait almost two days to get into the tournament and as expected the Irish number 1 took the match against Hadia Hosny but only after struggling in the opening game.

“It took me some time to settle as the arena was electric as Rajiv Ouseph was on court beside me. I have been buzzing around all day and it was only once I won the first game that I really took hold of the match. The big test now comes against Pi Hongyan whom I have never beaten before.” Said a happy Magee.

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Photo by BadmintonPhoto (Live)