EMWTC 2018: semifinalists defined on day 4
Day 4 of the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships in Kazan turned out to be very exciting. The best sides of the tournament played quarterfinals and demonstrated first-rate play in each of them. As a result, the doubles semifinalists of the European Championships were defined. Besides, the European U15 Championships kicked off at the Gymnastics Centre on February 16, and young stars of this sport competed in their start matches.
The first round of the playoff of the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships in Kazan began with the women’s quarterfinal match, Denmark vs England. The Danes are the current European champions and the favourites of this tournament, that is why it was expected that they would have no trouble: Mia Blichfeldt, Cristinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter-Juhl and Line Kjaerfeldt brought three necessary points to the Scandinavians for a place in the next round. The women’s team of Germany joined the Danes very soon. The French, who played against the Germans, were very tough and unyielding, but failed to score a single point throughout the match.
The doubles in Russia vs Bulgaria were maybe the most unexpected rivals of the quarterfinals. Earlier Team Russia’s head coach, Viktor Malyutin, admitted that he was not happy with the results of the draw. The first two points in this match were gained by Evgeniya Kosetskaya and Natalia Perminova of Russia. In three games, both of them got the upper hand over Linda Zetchiri and Mariya Mitsova of Bulgaria respectively. Russia’s Anastasia Chervyakova and Olga Morozova could have whitewashed their opponents, but they failed to beat Bulgaria’s Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva (1-2). However, later on the Russians improved after their loss and Anastasiia Pustinskaia defeated Maria Delcheva, earned a decisive point for the team and helped Russia reach the final.
Spain and Turkey played in the last women’s doubles match. The Spaniards led by Olympic champion Carolina Marin were not quick enough to sort the things out with the opponents and guarantee a place in the semifinal. Marin and Beatriz Corrales seemed to arrange a comfortable lead (2-0) for their team, but Ozge Bayrak and Bengisu Ercetin/Nazlican Inci got the Turkish team back on track. In the end, the doubles match Corrales/Marin vs Bayrak/Neslihan Yigit decided the outcome. The more experienced Spanish players settled the score in their favour and were seeded against Germany in the semifinal. Denmark and Russia became the second semifinal opponents.
The men’s quarterfinal match was played by the Danes who were drawn to compete against Team Finland. In the start match, Number 17 of the world ranking, Anders Antonsen, lost one game to Kalle Koljonen, but pulled off a character win. This match appeared to be the most difficult for the Danes. Further on, Emil Holst and Jan Jorgensen beat their rivals in quick time and could get ready for the semifinal.
The men’s team of Russia played against Team France in the first round of the playoff. The Vladimir Malkov vs Brice Leverdez match kicked off the men's quarterfinals. The Russian had nothing in store to challenge the French player and was defeated in two games in a row with the same score, 15-21. The Russian team’s coaches took an unexpected tactical step, pairing the top stars Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov with the other partners. The former played with Alexandr Zinchenko, and the latter one entered the game with Rodion Alimov. The risk was paid off. Ivanov/Zinchenko outplayed Bastian Kersaudy/Julien Maio in two games, thus evening the things up. The next to come on court was Sergey Sirant who played against Lucas Corvee. The Russian athlete was defeated again, the score in each game was 17-21. Russia’s Sozonov/Alimov went on the court to help the partners. They won their match and tied up the encounter for a second time. The Shakhzod Gulomzoda (Russia) vs Lucas Claerbout (France) match decided the outcome of the struggle. The Russian lacked experience because this was his debut tournament as part of the national team. Claerbout had no problem in the two games and helped his team to advance.
In the semifinal, Team Germany will try to stop the defending European champion, Team Denmark. The Germans competed against the Czechs and faced no serious difficulty. Marc Zwiebler and Kai Schaefer earned a comfortable double-point lead for their team, yet one point was scored by Czech Jan Louda. In the only doubles match, Jones Jansen and Josche Zurwonne gained the upper hand and put Germany ahead. Poland played against England in the last men’s quarterfinal match. The representatives of the Foggy Albion did not put off their advance onto the next stage. Rajiv Ouseph, Sam Parsons and pair Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge whitewashed their opponents. The English players will take on Team France for a place in the final.
Besides, the European U15 Championships kicked off in Kazan on February 16. The tournament will be played in a knockout format. On Day 1, the young players competed in the men’s and women’s singles, 1/32 men’s doubles and 1/16 women’s doubles and mixed categories.