EMWTC 2018: group stage wraps up on day 3
The group stage of the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships concluded in Kazan on February 15. Tonight the teams occupied their final positions in the qualifying groups and found out who will be their opponents in the quarterfinals. The Russians finished their preliminary round of the European Championships with two confident victories: the women’s team beat the players from Latvia and the men’s team defeated Team Belgium.
The competition day started at 10.00 (Moscow time) with eight matches of the men’s event. Team Denmark won over Team Ireland with 4-1, the one and only point in the game against the current European champions was earned by the Irish because Dane Emil Holst gave up the competition in one of the singles match. One more withdrawal was announced in the encounter Israel vs Croatia. Zvonimir Durkinjak of Croatia was not able to end the match. It did not prevent the players from the Balkans to come out on top (3-2) to the advantage of the Croats.
It took a very short time for Team Germany to sort the things out with Team Azerbaijan (5-0). For example, one singles game lasted 9 minutes only. The Czechs failed to challenge the contenders from Poland, just one point scored in the match and the final loss (1-4). The Norwegian Vikings lost to Team Estonia with the same result, the players from Iceland pulled off a win against Luxemburg, and Team Italy won over the Portuguese with one-point lead. In one more morning match, the Turkish players gave Team Latvia no chance and whitewashed the Balts.
Women’s Team Russia ended the group stage at noon. The home team faced Team Latvia. The Russian team’s coaches made substitutes again. Natalia Perminova and Ksenia Evgenova substituted Evgeniya Kosetskaya and Anastasiia Pustinskaia. Also there was an interchange in one of the pairs. Experienced Nina Vislova came out to compete in a duet with Alina Davletova. It had no influence on the final result, as the Russians whitewashed the opponents and got through to the quarterfinal having taken the first place in their group. In the concurrent match, the Turkish players were stronger than Team Estonia, 4-1. The team from Turkey became second in the group after Russia, but cruised into the playoff as the best runner-up.
The women’s teams, Bulgaria and France, had no trouble on the final group stage competition day. They whitewashed the teams from Belarus and Greenland respectively. The struggle, Spain vs Slovakia, was tough in favour of the Spanish girls (3-2), and the first place in the group was secured. The Hungarians outplayed the Portuguese girls (5-0), and the English beat Team of Poland with the same score. The women’s teams from the Czech Republic and Norway were the last to conclude their match of the group stage. The former team won by a score of 4-1 and gained their first victory at the tournament. To be honest, it did not help them. Neither the Czechs, nor the Norwegians made it to the playoff matches.
After the preliminaries, the teams of Denmark, Spain, Russia, Germany, Bulgaria, England (winners of the groups) and also the teams of France and Turkey as the best runners-up continue their title hunt. The draw decided the pairs for the quarterfinals: Denmark vs England, Russia vs Bulgaria, France vs Germany, Turkey vs Spain. “This is not the best draw for us. If we look at the standings, apart from Bulgaria three more teams of lower class could have been drawn to play against us. Nevertheless, we will compete and make efforts to advance,” senior coach of Team Russia, Viktor Malyutin, commented on the draw.
Tonight the men’s teams came out on courts of the Gymnastics Centre in order to play the final matches of the group stage. The Russians were to fight against Team Belgium, and the home team did not bother: the singles points were brought by Sergey Sirant, Anatoliy Yartsev and first-timer Shakhzod Gulomzoda, and pairs Rodion Alimov/Rodion Kargaev and Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov confidently got the opponents taken care of. As a result, 5-0 to the advantage of the Russian team and the first place in the group. Apart from the host team, England (the badminton players from the Foggy Albion outplayed the first-timers of the European Championships, Team Greenland), France (Team Lithuania had no chance) and Finland (they played against the Latvians) whitewashed their rivals. In two matches, the winner took more-than-one-point lead. The Bulgarians beat Spain by a score of 3-2, and the Turkish team forced Estonia down. The Ukrainians lost only one point to their opponents from Austria, and Team Hungary defeated Team Slovakia.
Russia, Denmark, England, Germany, France, Poland and Finland were the winners of their groups. The best runner-up, the Czech Republic, will keep them company in the playoff. The following men’s teams will play in the quarterfinals: Denmark vs Finland, France vs Russia, Germany vs Czech Republic, Poland vs England.