In today’s second session, all four nations from Group 2 were in action. France faced Germany while Czechia took on the Netherlands.
France vs Germany
On Court 1, French star Alex Lanier opened with a solid victory over Fabian Roth, winning 21-15, 21-17. While the match never became truly close, Lanier was also unable to completely shake off Roth.
The second match saw the tournament’s youngest participant, 16-year-old Gloria Poluektov, make her debut against Léonice Huet of France. The young German struggled with nerves early on, allowing Huet to dominate and take the first game 21-14. However, Poluektov found her rhythm in the second game, surging to an 18-12 lead. But as fatigue set in, she lost six consecutive points, and Huet capitalized, closing the match 22-20.
After the match, Poluektov expressed her excitement and pride:
"It was great, really exciting. I love this arena... I am really proud of my match, I didn’t expect it to be this close."
If she gets another opportunity in the group stage, she knows exactly what to focus on:
"To start from the first point and to feel comfortable from the first rally."
Watch the full interview here
The third match featured the Popov brothers in men’s doubles against Marvin Seidel and Bjarne Geiss. The French duo faced resistance but eventually secured the win 21-12, 19-21, 21-12.
The women's doubles match was another three-game battle, with Elsa Jacob and Margot Lambert pulling off a hard-fought 20-22, 26-24, 21-10 victory against Leona Michalski and Thuc Phuong Nguyen.
The final match saw world number 8 mixed doubles pair Delphine Delrue and Thom Gicquel cruise to a 21-15, 21-19 win over Jan Colin Voelker and Franziska Volkmann, sealing a 5-0 victory for France.
Czechia vs Netherlands
On Court 2, Czechia and the Netherlands faced off in what looked to be a close encounter on paper—and it delivered.
The Netherlands struck first, taking a 1-0 lead after Ties Van Der Lecq and Debora Jille dominated in mixed doubles, winning 21-12, 21-11. However, Jan Louda quickly leveled the score with a 21-12, 21-13 victory over Noah Haase.
In the third match, Petra Maixnerová put on an outstanding performance, securing a 21-15, 21-7 victory over Novi Wieland, giving Czechia a 2-1 lead.
The decisive moment came in the men’s doubles, where Jiří Král and Adam Mendrek sealed the overall team win with a 21-12, 21-16 victory.
The Netherlands fought back in the final match, as their women’s doubles team managed to reduce the final score to 3-2 in favor of Czechia.
Tomorrows schedule
Tomorrow, Group 1 returns to action in the early session at 7 AM CET, featuring Denmark vs. England and Azerbaijan vs. Spain.
All matches can be streamed live on BadmintonEurope.tv!