EMWTC 2018: finalists decided on day 5
The European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships in Kazan enters the finish line. On the penultimate competition day, the spectators found out, which teams will play in the decisive matches of the tournament. Team Russia is not among these powerhouses, however, both the men's and women's teams of Denmark have again confirmed the title of the favourite and have good chances to continue their winning streak at the European Championships.
Russia and Denmark faced off in the first match of the fifth competition day. These sides fought for a place in the women’s final. The struggle of the strongest team of Europe vs the host team of the tournament started quite unexpectedly: Evgeniya Kosetskaya beat Mia Blichfeldt in three games and earned the first point for her team. Besides, losing four points in the end of the first set, Kosetskaya was able to snatch the victory at the score of 22-20. “When I began to lose in the first game, I calmed down a little and decided that I had nothing to lose,” the athlete confessed after the match. “Of course, the opponent helped me here by making some unnecessary mistakes. In the third game, she got nervous, and this fact helped me.” Kosetskaya’s win was the only one for Team Russia in this match. Afterwards Natalia Perminova and pairs Anastasia Chervyakova/Olga Morozova and Alina Davletova/Ekaterina Bolotova were defeated by the rivals, giving up a place in the final for the Danes. The Russians will still take a medal. The losing sides of the semifinals will share the bronze medals. “In Kazan we demonstrated our maximum, despite the unfavourable draw,” Russia’s head coach, Klaudia Mayorova, commented on her team’s performance. “If we consider the ranking and class of the athletes, we had no chances in the women’s event at all. But badminton has its beauty because miracles may happen. We wanted to make a miracle in the women’s doubles. If Chervyakova and Morozova could have won, we would have had a chance to advance.” Spain and Germany played in the second women’s semifinal. The Spaniards were flawless individually. Olympic Champion Carolina Marin and her teammate Beatriz Corrales brought two points to their national powerhouse. But further on fortune started favouring the Germans. They won the next three encounters (two doubles and one singles) and will compete against Denmark in the final.
In the first men’s semifinal, the English played against the French. The representatives of the Foggy Albion were more convincing on the court. At first, Rajiv Ouseph got the best of his opponent and helped Team England take the lead. Then Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge beat the French doubles in two games. Lucas Corvee attempted to save his national team. He succeeded in the match against Sam Parsons and made up ground. In the end, the French players failed to level the score. In the decisive match, the English athletes, Peter Briggs and Sean Vendy, established a good lead, playing the fifth match just for show. 3-1, and Team England became the semifinalists, while Team France settled for bronze medals. The current European champion and Team Germany fought for one more place in the final, facing off in the decisive match of the men’s event. This semifinal was similar to the previous one. The favourite, Denmark, earned a two-point lead after the victories of the singles player Anders Antonsen and doubles Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Kolding. Germany fought till the end and kept the intrigue in the competition, thanks to Kai Schaefer. It lasted just one more match. Kim Astrup and Mathias Cristiansen of Denmark pulled off the win and propelled the Scandinavians into the final of the doubles event, the Germans rising onto the third step of the podium.