We are pleased with our performance but Denmark is stronger at the moment, Russian badminton players say

Participants of the quarterfinal match, Denmark-Russia, shared their thoughts after the match.

The Russian men’s team was not able to hold off a strong challenge from the tournament’s favourites, the Danes. Klavdia Mayorova’s team lost the quarterfinal match to Denmark, 1-3, dropping out of the European title race. The only point was earned by Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov who managed to beat Mads Pieler Kolding and Mads Conrad-Petersen in the men’s doubles. In the opening game, Vladimir Malkov lost to Jan O Jorgensen.

- I would like to thank the Danish team, and Jan among them, - said Vladimir Malkov. - He played really well today, giving it 100%. There was a mutual respect on the court, and this is the most important thing. I wouldn’t say that I showed my best performance. I had a hard time playing matches this week. But I tried to show everything I am capable of. Well, we’ll learn from our mistakes.

For his part, Jorgensen admitted that despite the final score, 2-0 (21-12, 21-6), the victory over Malkov didn’t come so easily. 

- We feel deep respect for the Russian national team and we did our best to showcase the best of our ability today, - said the Dane. – The match was really difficult. The first game was especially important. I take each game very seriously as I’ve been out of commission for some time. 

Denmark’s head coach, Kenneth Jonassen, also gave credit to the Russian national team and said that it’s always a challenge to play on an opponent’s home court.

- The match was difficult and we’ve been looking forward to it, - Jonassen said. - We were curious what players Russia will field. But everything went just as planned. I’m glad that we won. It’s a challenge to compete against a team that plays on a home court. I think it’s a good result for our team.

Klavdia Mayorova, the head coach of the Russian national team, commended Sergey Sirant who was able to provide keen and tough competition in the game against formidable Viktor Axelsen.

- We planned to win the group stage and we did it. And when we were matched up with Denmark in the quarterfinal, it didn’t come as a surprise. We were getting ready for this meet. We knew that Denmark has one disadvantage – the doubles – where we, on the contrary, are strong enough. We counted on earning two points but we managed to take only one. I was glad that Sergey Sirant showed a good performance in the first game against Viktor Axelsen. We are pleased with the game but Denmark is stronger than us at the moment.