At 10am local time, the teams were ready to start the second day of the qualification for Group 6 in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.
Ukraine vs Latvia
Yesterday both Ukraine and Latvia had some tough matches and this morning, the two teams faced each other for their second match in the qualification stage.
The Ukrainian mixed doubles, Danylo Bosniuk and Valeriya Rudakova, showed the Latvian players how it was done and in just 17 minutes, they had secured the first point for Ukraine.
Jekaterina Romanova fought with everything she had against Maria Ulitina in the women’s singles. The first and second game were very close, and the players won one game each. In the decider, Ulitina was too strong and she closed the last game without big problems.
European Junior Championships bronze medallists, Polina Buhrova and Mariia Stoliarenko played their first match today and for the two young girls especially the tactics were important.
- The biggest difference between juniors and seniors is the tactic. When we played now, we had to attack and use a lot of drops compared to when we play against other juniors, Buhrova said.
Scotland vs Portugal
Scotland’s first match at the qualification was against hosts, Portugal and Adam Hall and Julie Macpherson showed momentum in the mixed doubles, and Tomas Nero and Mariana Chang had no comeback against the strong Scottish mixed.
In the men’s singles, Bernardo Atilano was very strong and in the first game, Scotland’s Joshua Apiliga had no chance. In second game it changed, and after a great fight Atilano secured a point for Portugal and made it 1-1 in the team match.
- It was a tough match, the first game I could control the shuttle really well but in the second game he was a little more aggressive and pressured my serve, Atilano said.
- It was really nice to give a point to my team as it will be a very tough tie against Scotland, he ended.
Even though Atilano made it 1-1, Scotland’s women’s singles and doubles were too strong and they won the three remaining matches.
