The seedings for the individual 2020 European Junior Championships have been published.

There is no doubt that all eyes will be on French Christo Popov, when the 2020 European Junior Championships begin later this month. Not only being the runner-up from the 2018 European Junior Championships but also being a player who delivered good results at the BEC Circuit, Popov will be the one to beat if a player hopes to do well in Finland.

Seedings:

Men’s singles:
1) Christo Popov, France
2) Mads Juel Møller, Denmark
3) Joakim Oldorff, Finland
4) Matthias Kicklitz, Germany
5) Georgii Lebedev, Russia
6) Magnus Johannesen, Denmark
7) Yanis Gaudin, France
8) Jacobo Fernandez, Spain

Being ranked number 77 on the senior ranking and coming out of the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament Denmark Open, Christo Popov will be the major favorite of the 2020 European Junior Championships. Second seed, Mads Juel Møller, won the very first tournament after the COVID-19 lockdown, the Bulgarian Juniors, and will be interesting to see if the three-times gold medallist from the 2019 European U17 Championships is ready to take the next step despite of just being 17 years old.

Women’s singles:

1) Anastasiia Shapovalova, Russia
2) Amy Tan, Netherlands
3) Dounia Pelupessy, Switzerland
4) Ania Setien, Spain
5) Marija Sudimac, Serbia
6) Katharina Fink, Italy
7) Mariia Golubeva, Russia
8) Yasmine Hamza, Italy

It will be a close race for the women’s singles title in Finland. Russian Shapovalova is the top seed but keep an out for all the seeded players in this category. Several of the players have experience from the BEC Circuit, and the 2019 European U17 women’s singles champion, Mariia Golubeva is not to be underestimated either.

Men’s doubles:
1) Georgii Lebedev/Egor Kholkin, Russia
2) William Kryger Boe/Mads Vestergaard, Denmark
3) Jacobo Fernandez/Ruben Garcia, Spain
4) Gabriel Fernandez/Alejandro De Pablo, Spain
5) Sergej Lukic/Mihajlo Tomic, Serbia
6) Kilian Ming-Zhe Maurer/Matthias Schnabel, Germany
7) Marcus Rindshøj/Christian Faust Kjær, Denmark
8) Gustav Andree/Tobias Rudolf, Austria

On paper the Russians are the favourites, but it will be a tough fight for medals in the men’s doubles category. Danish William Kryger Boe is looking to copy his uncle’s (guess who…) medals from 1999, while the 2018 European U15 men’s doubles champion and 2019 European U17 men’s doubles champion, Christian Faust Kjær is aiming for the hattrick. The Serbians seeded five will be another underdog to watch out for and several of the unseeded pairs can make life tough for the top pairs already from the opening rounds.

Women’s doubles:
1) Anastasiia Boiarun/Alena Iakovleva, Russia
2) Ania Setien/Lucia Rodriguez, Spain
3) Katharina Fink/Yasmine Hamza, Italy
4) Julie Franconville/Caroline Racloz, Switzerland
5) Lucie Krpatová/Katerina Zuzáková, Czech Rep.
6) Judith Mair/Martina Corsini, Italy
7) Leona Michalski/Thuc Phuong Nguyen, Germany
8) Clara Løber/Mette Werge, Denmark

When you look at the ranking the three top pairs stand out, but if you take a deeper look, you will realise that the top pairs will be facing challenges already from an early stage of the tournament. A number of players have already played at the senior level, and although the Russians are seeded one, it is too difficult to point out who will make it to the final matches in the women’s doubles category.

Mixed doubles:
1) Lev Barinov/Anastasiia Boiarun, Russia
2) Aaron Sonnenschein/Leona Michalski, Germany
3) Marcus Rindshøj/Mette Werge, Denmark
4) Matthias Kicklitz/Thuc Phuong Nguyen, Germany
5) Pelayo Pinto/Candela Arcos, Spain
6) Salvador Franco/Maria De La O Perez, Spain
7) Mihajlo Tomic/Andjela Vitman, Serbia
8) Arthur Boudier/Carolina Racloz, Switzerland

With four pairs with more than 20,000 points there is a clear gab from the top four seeds to the rest of the pairs. The 2019 European U17 mixed doubles champion, Mette Werge will be looking to repeat last year’s victory, but it is too difficult to make a call for this category.

You can follow the 2020 European Juniors Championships (teams and individuals) on all Badminton Europe platforms from 29 October – 7 November 2020.