Tomorrow, the European Mixed Team Championships will be kicking off for four out of the five groups.
In just two months, the best mixed national team in Europe will be crowned in Aire-sur-la-Lys, France, in the 2023 European Mixed Team Championships and in just one day, the qualification stage will begin for four out of the five groups. Let’s take a look at what to look forward to in Groups 1, 2, and 3.
Group 1
Group 1 is the only one that will not be played from tomorrow. However, we do know what players will be part of the national teams competing in Milton Keynes already, starting this Friday. The host country, England, have the best results in the history of the main competition. They have won a total of five golds but it’s been a while since their last, in 1984. England’s last medal was a bronze in 2017. Lauren Smith was part of that edition’s team and will be back after recovering on time from an ankle injury, and so will be her current women’s doubles partner Chloe Birch. Gregory Mairs, Jenny Moore, Ben Lane, and Sean Vendy are some other strong names on the English list. Slovakia will have two Centre of Excellence players on their side, Milan Dratva and Martina Repiska. Poland, also on Group 1, will have some of their top young talents representing them, including Mateusz Golas, Dominik Kwinta, and Joanna Podedworny. The fourth team in the group, Norway, will be looking to get out of the group stage with their best players, including their top pair Torjus Flaatten and Vegard Rikheim.
Group 2
Haarlem, Netherlands, will be seeing the first team making it out of the group stage, as their matches will be finishing already on Saturday. The Dutch team will be led by Mark Caljouw and powerful doubles players — some of them being Debora Jille, Ruben Jille, Selena Piek, Cheryl Seinen, and Robin Tabeling. The Netherlands have never become champions but have won a total of five medals at the main event, including a silver in 2019.
Estonia will compete to top their group with players such as Kristin Kuuba, Kati-Kreet Marran, Helina Rüütel, and Ramona Üprus. Italy’s long list of names includes Yasmine Hamza, Katharina Fink, Fabio Capnio, Judith Mair, Gianna Stiglich, and Giovanni Toti. Completing Group 2, Israel will have two of their most experienced, Misha Zilberman and Ksenia Polikarpova, as well as Maxim Grinblat and Heli Neiman.
Group 3
Divided into two subgroups, Group 3 will have a battle with a total of six teams. In Subgroup 1, Spain will have the European Champion Carolina Marin as part of their team. Joining her will be other Spanish stars like Luis Enrique Peñalver, Clara Azurmendi, and Beatriz Corrales. Iceland will be competing with David Bjarnj Bjornsson, Solrun Anna Ingvarsdottir, and Daniel Johannesson, among others. Completing the Subgroup 1, Switzerland will be competing on home soil with players such as Lucie Amiguet, Tobias Kuenzi, Nicolas A. Müller, Dounia Pelupessy, and Jenjira Stadelmann.
Subgroup 2 Greenland, Ukraine, and Hungary. Cecilia Josenius, Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Malik Tiger are some of the players that will be representing Greenland. Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova, Danylo Bosniuk, Anna Mikhalkova, Mariia Stoliarenko, and Yelyzaveta Zharka will be representing their team on Swiss soil. On the list of the third team of the subgroup, Hungary, there’s some of the country’s top players, including Agnes Korosi, Daniella Gonda, Csanad Horvath, and Vivien Sandorhazi.