In the morning session of day two at the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships, we see the Baltic battle between Estonia and Sweden.
The young, fast-improving Felix Burestedt, a Centre of Excellence player, took on the experienced Raul Must, who achieved a brilliant win against England’s Toby Penty yesterday. In a repeat of the three-game quarterfinal clash at the 2019 European Games, it was Must who managed to give Estonia a valuable head start. This time however, the Estonian was able to do the business in two very tight games, 21-19, 21-18. Following his victory after coming back from a 17-11 deficit, Must said.
-I think after being down I started to play better. I was not doubting my shots and had a clearer plan in what I should do. I know that he is a fast starter but slows down quite a bit when the game develops. So that is why I tried to make longer rallies and it worked because he lost confidence.
Must, 32, has represented his country at the Olympics three times, the fourth and final time will be at the Tokyo Olympics this year. Discussing this, Must says.
-I feel that I am training well and mentally I want to play. I feel focused and the Olympic race is coming to an end very soon and it is my last chance to play good badminton. All I want is to play some good matches so I can look back at the end of my career and think that I have had some memorable moments.
I was too frustrated
Burestedt, 24, is placed 33 world ranking spots higher than Must and has been achieving great results, with a runner-up finish at the Swedish Open his latest success. But it was experience that prevailed today. After the match, Burestedt said.
-I think I got a really good start in the first game, but then I lost a bit of focus. Then it was not good enough, because I was too frustrated that I lost that game, and let it affect me in the second game.
For the full list of fixtures and results, click
here.