It is day 5 of the Olympic Games badminton competition and today is a special one.
A lot of the European single players (and Kim Astrup/Anders Rasmussen) are facing top-seeded world class athletes which are now the only ones thing standing against the Europeans’ hope for a spot in the round of 16.
In some ways, this might as well already be knockout-stage matches for the European players since a victory will carry them through to the next round, and a loss will mean a good-bye to Paris.
Let’s have a look at the tough challenges that await the Europeans:
Session 1 Starts at 8.30 AM CEST
Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND) vs Kristin Kuuba (EST) –
Winner wins group M
Misha Zilberman (ISR) vs Prince Dahal (NEP) -
Winner will NOT go through
Viktor Axelsen [2] (DEN) vs Nhat Nguyen (IRL) -
Winner wins Group P
Kalle Koljonen (FIN) vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn [8] (THA) -
Winner wins Group C
Shi Yu Qi [1] (CHN) vs Giovanni Toti (ITA) -
Winner wins Group A
Kim Astrup / Anders Skaarup Rasmussen [2] (DEN) vs Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi (JAP)
If Astrup/ Rasmussen win, they will go through to the next round; however if they lose, they could still go through if Liu Yu Chen/ Ou Xuan Yi (CHN) win their match against Lee Yang/ Wang Chi-lin (TPE) going on at the same time
Session 2 Starts at 2.00 PM CEST
Carolina Marin [4] (ESP) vs Rachael Darragh (IRL) -
If Darragh wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group L since everyone has one win and one loss. If Marin wins she wins Group L
Lee Zii Jia [7] (MAS) vs Pablo Abian (ESP) -
Winner wins Group G
Gregoria Mariska Tunjung [7] (INA) vs Tereza Švábíková (CZE) -
If Švábíková wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group G since everyone has one win and one loss. If Tunjung wins, she wins Group G
Anders Antonsen [4] (DEN) vs Ade Resky Dwicahyo (AZE) -
Winner wins Group E
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting [9] (INA) vs Toma Junior Popov (FRA) -
Winner wins group H
Session 3 Starts at 7.30 PM CEST
An Se Young [1] (KOR) vs Qi Xuefei (FRA) -
If Qi Xuefei wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group A since everyone has one win and one loss. If An Se Young wins, she wins Group L
Chen Yu Fei [2] (CHN) vs Mia Blichfeldt (DEN) -
Winner wins Group P
As we can see, a lot of the Europeans’ fate relies on defeating top-stars such as Shi Yu Qi, An Se Young, Chen Yu Fei, Ginting, Lee Zii Jia and the likes. It will be an extremely tough challenge. At Badminton Europe, we are priveledged to be served this kind of excellent badminton, and seeing our athletes on the biggest stage being challenged by the best in the world. We cannot wait to see how the day unfolds.
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