The last day of Group 1 kicked off with a battle between Hungary and Estonia. Hungary fought against the impending wooden spoon and Estonia aimed to secure what would be a satisfying second place in the group.
The mixed doubles commenced proceedings with Kristjan Kaljurand/ Helina Rüütel, who after their narrow three-game loss against Sweden, seek a win together. Gergely Krausz, a singles player, completes a hattrick of appearances in all possible categories, partnering Daniella Gonda in the mixed doubles.
The Estonians had to come from behind after a slow start to get the win. Kaljurand explains how they changed it.
-In the first interval we changed our tactics a little bit. At first, we mostly played the shuttle straight, but the girl was very good at covering the net, so we tried to go cross-court a little bit more to open the court up.
Pytel gets his moment
As Krausz featured in the mixed doubles, Hungary decided to give Gergo Pytel a runout in the singles, his preferred category. His opponent Mikk Järveoja, filling in for the unavailable European Games bronze medalist, Raul Must, has found this week tough. Although was 10-3 up in the second game, forcing Pytel to step up.
- The first game was a little easy for me and I lost my focus a bit, and I just told myself to back to the play in that first game. No mistakes and keep the shuttle on court.
Three out of three for Kuuba
Kristin Kuuba came into today with a perfect record. She faced Vivien Sandorhazi, a player that she faced five years ago in round three at the 2015 European Junior Championships in Lubin, Poland. Kuuba lost to eventual gold medallist Mia Blichfeldt.
Kuuba says that she has played Sandorhazi a number of times in the German league and they take it in turns to win. However, today she explains how she was able to win by a large margin, 21-3 in the second game.
-In the second game my defence was so much better. I wasn’t smashing all of the time. I was more passive and waiting and she was doing to mistakes, so I just focused on playing everything back.
The doubles to take Estonia home
The Estonian men’s doubles pair, Kristjan Kaljurand/ Raul Käsner, have played in all of the group matches. After a heavy defeat to England’s Lane/ Vendy, they scored their second victory in group 1 against Hungary’s Gergo Pytel/ Gergely Szita. With seeming control over the match, the Estonians allowed the Hungarians to be in the lead late on in the second game. However, they were able to pick up the pace when it mattered.
Strange serving
The men’s doubles point sealed the win overall, with women’s doubles still to play. Kristin Kuuba/ Helina Rüütel, who scored a vital point in their win against Sweden earlier in the week, faced Daniella Gonda/ Laura Sarosi. The Hungarians were able to pressure them all the way through, but it was not enough.
Sarosi at times in that match opted for the forehand serve, mixing it up between short and long. Chuckling about how this was something they had to adapt to, Kuuba said.
- In the beginning, it was really difficult to see what's coming from the serve, but in the end, it was okay when we understood what was coming.
-We can be satisfied with this week. Overall, we played well. England is really strong, and we did not have a chance against them. But we come away with two good wins.
England play Sweden in the final match of Group 1 at 14:00 (local time)