More seeds toppled as the 16 seeds that started the men’s singles has become just 5, with three unseeded players putting their names into the equation. Russia’s Ivan Sozonov defeated the last Danish seed in the draw, Christian Lind Thomsen in three games to leave Viktor Axelsen as the last Dane in the draw. His stunning 21-10, 21-7 win over the 15th seeded Pablo Abian is a real statement of intent for this week, he takes on 6th seeded Eric Pang in the last 8. Ajay Jayaram is the last of the unseeded trio, defeating 13th seeded Kestutis Navickas in two games to set up a match with Sozonov in the quarters.
The women’s singles boasts the same quota of seeds at the last 8 stage. Unseeded Chinese Taipei player Pai Hsiao Ma takes on the 3rd seeded Ai Goto in the quarters whilst the other two unseeded players face of in the 3rd of the quarter finals, as Iceland’s Ragna Ingolfsdottir takes on the newly nationalised Olga Konon of Germany, formerly of Poland. Yao Jie came through a tough test against Karina Jorgensen of Denmark to set up a match with Larisa Griga of Ukraine. The 4th quarter final sees Juliane Schenk take on Anastasia Prokopenko for a place in the last 4.
The men’s doubles got underway today and after two rounds there is a Japanese presence to the final 8, with 4 of the pairs being from Japan. All four pairs could make the last 4 as they all play in different quarter finals. Top seeded Hashimoto and Hirata take on Danes Elbjorn and Skovgaard in the first of tomorrow’s quarter finals.The 5th seeded Endo and Hayakawa take on the experience German pair of Kindervater and Schottler. The third of the seeded Japanese pairs, 3rd seeded Sato and Kawamae have the tough task of taking on the 8th seeded Russians, Durkin and Nikolaenko. The 4th Japanese pair, unseeded Hirobe and Kazuno take on the 2nd seeded Ellis and Mills of England.
The women’s doubles opening round was a brief affair, with all 8 of the matches being won in two games. All 4 of the seeded pairs are through to the last 8, with the top seeds Fujii and Kakiiaw and 3rd seeded Matuso and Naito giving the draw another Japanese vibe to it. The Japanese vibe continues in the mixed doubles, but it is without the top seeded Japanese pair, Hashimoto and Fujii losing out to the Dutch pairing of Bosch and Jonathans, leaving the Russian pair of Nikolaenko and Sorokina as the highest seeds in the top half of the draw, as the 4th seeds. The bottom half of the mixed draw is littered with Japanese pairings. Only the 7th seeded Russian pairing of Vislova and Durkin break into a Japanese monopoly, led by their quarter final opponents, Ikeda and Shiota who are seeded 2 for the event. The final match of the quarters is an all-Japanese affair between the 6th seeded Hayakawa and Matsuo and unseeded pair Hirobe and Matsutomo,
The winners of the previous two European events progressed into the third round at the expense of two of the top four seeds. Ajay Jayaram defeated Manuel Batista of Italy in the opening round and then defeated the top seed Marc Zwiebler in two games also to progress into the last 16. Victor Axelsen, recent winner in Cyprus International is also through to the third round, defeating the 4th seed and fellow Dane Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in three games to boost his credentials as Denmark’s third best player. Axelsen also received the news that will be in the qualifying for the Danish Super Series next week also. Dicky Palyama also surprisingly lost out to Shuhei Hayasaki in two games, leaving just Chetan Anand as one of the top 4 seeds remaining in the draw.
If the men’s singles was full of shocks, the women’s singles is the complete opposite. Every seed successfully progressed into the last 16, with the top two seeds Jie Yao and Juliane Schenk winning in two games. Ai Goto was a two game winner also, whilst 5th and 6th seeds Linda Zechiri and Larisa Griga had to come through tough three game encounters to book their place in the last 16.
The mixed doubles lost it 2nd seed, Atrashchenkov and Prus to Japanese pair of Hirobe and Matsutomo in two games. They join four other Japanese pairs in the last 16, including top seeds Hashimoto and Fujii and 3rd seeds Ikeda and Shiota. The Russian seeds are also still in the draw, with 4th seeded Nikolaenko and Sorokina and Durkin and Vislova both progressing without the loss of a game.
The Chinese domination of the 2009 Women’s Doubles looks likely to attempt a double in 2010 with 4 of the top 7 seeds being Chinese, with a new world champion guaranteed also with the 2009 champions with Zhang and Zhao not taking part this year.
The top seeds are the young Chinese pairing of Ma and Jin, much is expected of them after making the semi finals last year and they start their campaign in Round 2 against the American pairing of Wang and Wang, ranked 43rd in the world. The 11th seeded Sari and Yao from Singapore also receive a bye into round 2, and they will play the winner of Cooper and Slee of Australia and Ideh and Maria of Nigeria who are both ranked outside the top 100 in the world.
The Korean pair of Ha and Kim are seeded 6 for the championships and begin their run to the final against the world number 72 Swiss pairing of Gruber and Jacquet in round 2. The 16th seed Gutta and Ponnappa start in round 1 against Barning and Muskens of Holland, before a likely matchup between the winners of the Edwards and Viljoen of South Africa and Ulitina and Voytsekh of the Ukraine.
Last years beaten finalists look to go one better as the 4th seeded Cheng and Zhao begin with a first round bye before taking on Chang and Chou of Chinese Taipei, the world number 96. They are joined in this section by 14th seeded Thai pairing of Arronkesorn and Voravichitchaikul who take on the Greek duo of Karkantzia and Ligomenou, ranked 147th in the world. The other match in the section sees two of Europe’s best pairings go at it for a place in round 2 as Overzier and Marinello of Germany take on Denmark’s Damkjaer and Schjoett-Kristiansen, with both pairings ranked inside the top 30 in the world.
The 5th seeded Japanese pairing of Miyuki and Suetsuna has a first round bye before taking on the Spanish pairing of Molina and Ojeda, ranked over 100 places lower in the world rankings. The 10th seeded Bulgarian/Russian partnership of Nedelcheva and Russkikh take on the French pairing of Choinet and Rasidi The final match in the section is between England’s young pairing of Wallwork and White take on Canada’s St. Jacques and Cloutier for a place in round 2.
8th seeded Koreans Hyun and Jung take on the Canadian pair of Gao and Ko, ranked 53rd in their opening match after a first round bye, they are joined in their section by one of the top pairings on the EBU Circuit in Sorokina and Vislova who are ranked 12th for the event. They take on Ukrainian pair Prus and Kobtseva in their opening round match and the final match sees another French pairing of Chanteur and Matias take on Czech duo Basova and Krizkova for a place in round 2.
One of the form pairs of the last month are seeded 3rd, Chinese Taipei pairing of Cheng and Chien are the duo to look out for after wins in the US and Chinese Taipei in the last month, they begin with a second round match against Hong Kong’s Chan and Chau. The other seed in the section are the 13th seeds Amitapal and Munkit of Thailand who take on Scotland’s Mason and Bankier who are both coming back from long-term injuries. The other match in the section is between Denmark’s Roepke and Kristiansen and Holland’s Van Dooremalen and Jonathans.
The 7th seeded Pan and Tian might receive a first round bye, but their second round opponent will be a match for any partnership this season, they take on Korea’s Lee and Lee for a place in Round 3. The 9th seeded Japanese pairing of Fujii and Kakiiwa are the other seeds in the section and take on Yeh and Yeh of the USA in their opening round match. Also in the section is the world number 25 pairing of Lennartson and Wengberg of Sweden, who take on Australian pair of Veeran and Tang for a place in the second round.
The 2nd seeds begin their campaign against local pairing Fontaine and Luttmann for a place in round 3 of the competition. The 3rd Japanese seeded pair of Matsuo and Naito are the 15th seed for the event and take on the Polish pair of Poczyowiak and Wojtkowska for a place in the second round. The final match in the section sees the Belgian #1 duo of Annys and Corvillain take on Finland’s Rautala and Virta for a place in the second round of this years World Championships.
Women’s Doubles Draw
Day two had the remaining teams play their opening matches, as well as the arrival of Nigeria’s men’s team to the competition, albeit a day later than expected.
Korean booked their place in the last 8 with a 5-0 win over Peru, meaning that China also qualify from Group Ar after their 5-0 win yesterday over the South Americans. Tomorrow’s match sets up to be a winner-take-all between Korea and China to see who tops the group. Japan is also through to the last 8 after defeating Nigeria 5-0, who arrived for this group match unlike yesterdays forfeit over Malaysia. The Nigerian’s failed to win a single game in any of the 5 matches against a relentless Japanese side. Hosts Malaysia will play tomorrow against the Japanese to determine the group winner, as well as the anticipated rematch between Kenichi Tago and Lee Chong Wei.
Germany defeated Poland 5-0 to dump the Poles out of the tournament, setting up a Zwiebler – Gade rematch tomorrow in the final Group C match to find out the group winner. Dieter Domke also has to continue his excellent form to stand a chance against Jan O Jorgensen in the second singles match tomorrow. Indonesia easily disposed of India in the Group D encounter, winning the match 4-1 overall but the main news from the match is Sony Dwi Kuncoro’s retirement in his singles against Arvind Bhatt, with the Indonesian player suffering a back injury in the second game of his match. India and Australia will play in the final group match tomorrow, with the winner progressing into the final 8.
Malaysia’s women started their campaign with a comfortable 5-0 win over the USA, conceding just two games in their victory. Both China and Malaysia are through from Group A, but will play tomorrow in the final league match to determine the top spot in the group,
Group B seen Denmark take on Australia, with the European powerhouses expected to coast into the last 8 with a comfortable victory. It started well for them with Camilla Sorensen’s two game victory over Erica Pong, but the next hour was a disaster for the Danes, with Karina Jorgensen losing to Renuga Veeran 20-22, 13-21 and then Mette Poulsen’s stunning collapse to Chia Chi Huang 11-21, 5-21 gave Australia an unlikely 2-1 lead. Pedersen and Rytter Juhl were needed to win just to keep Denmark in the rubber, 28 minutes later, the score was level at 2-2 with a 21-12, 21-19 victory for the Danish pair. Kristiansen and Ropke played the final match for Denmark against Tan and Huang of Australia, it resulted in the longest match of the five, but the Danes came through in two games, winning 21-13, 21-16 to book their place in the last 8, eliminating Australia but leaves a big question mark over Denmark’s credentials in the competition.
Juliane Schenk continued her run of good form to give Germany another lead today, this time against Russia as Schenk defeated Ella Diehl 21-16, 21-13 to give Germany a 1-0 lead in the rubber. It was the only lead that the Germans would have, as Bibik and Prokopenko thrust Russia into a 2-1 lead with tight victories over Schnaase and Deprez of Germany. Sorokina and Vislova made it 3-1 with a two game victory over Overzier and Schenk and the new partnership of Diehl and Russkikh completed the rout with a two game victory to book Russia’s place in the last 8.
India’s women had a better day than their male counterparts, defeating South Africa 5-0 to book their place in the last 8. Saina Newhal was on court less than 20 minutes in her victory over Kerry-Lee Harrington, with the remaining four matches taking just 79 minutes to be completed. India take on Korea tomorrow to determine top spot in the group.
Denmark dominance of European badminton was proved yet again with finalists in 4 of the 5 final in Manchester today, only the women’s doubles finalist was certain to have a non-Danish winner.
The top 2 seeds met in the men’s singles final in an All-Danish affair between Peter Gade and Jan O Jorgensen. The opening game started off evenly, with neither player about to create a gap of any merit. Towards the middle of the opening game, Peter Gade begun to string runs of 3 and 4 points together to create a sizable gap that Jorgensen was unable to pull back, Gade served out the opening game from 19-14 to win the opener.
The second game started well for Jorgensen, taking an early 6-2 advantage before the 4-time European champion strung 8 consecutive points together to take a 10-6 lead in the game. Jorgensen fought back to 10-12 but Gade reeled off another 7 point run to take a 19-10 lead which he was never going to give up and served out from 19-11 to take his fifth European title.
2nd seeded Tine Rasmussen was hoping to continue her excellent run of form in 2010 with a victory over 3rd seeded Juliane Schenk of Germany. However, the opening game was very much dominated by the German. Schenk led at 17-12 before Rasmussen brought it back level at 17-17 and the momentum was with the Dane for the remainder of the game, with Rasmussen taking the opening game 21-19.
Schenk response in the second game was fantastic however, domination the game much like the first but this time continued to score points late on in the game and the German levelled the match, winning the second game 21-14. The first part of the third game was very nervy and tight, with neither player being able to pull out a gap. At 13-12, Rasmussen managed to pull out a 4 point gap to 16-12, a gap that Schenk was never able to pull back after saving 2 match points previously, Rasmussen finished the job with her third match point, winning the final game 21-19.
There was another all-Danish final in the men’s doubles as the rematch from the All-England final between Paaske and Rasmussen playing Boe and Mogensen. The top seeded Boe and Mogensen were keen to avenge their All-England defeat but the second seeded Paaske and Rasmussen led throughout the opening game, but squandered three game points at 20-17 to allow the top seeds back into the opening game. They received two more opportunities to win the opening game before converting on their sixth attempt to take the game 24-22.
The second game was a complete role reversal, with Boe and Mogensen dominating the game before failing to convert on two game points at 20-18. Paaske and Rasmussen put together a run of 4 points from 20-18 to win the second game 22-20 and take the European crown to add to their All-England title.
The top two seeds met in the final, with three of the four players coming from Russia. The second seeded Russian duo of Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina had failed to drop a game on route to the final and that record remained unchanged with a fabulous display against the top seeded Nedelcheva and Russkikh, winning 21-18, 21-14 in just under three quarters of an hour.
Another clash of the top two seeds took place in the mixed doubles final between World Champions Laybourn and Rytter Juhl of Denmark and the 2009 Hong Kong Super Series winners, Mateusiak and Kostiuczyk of Poland. The match was three games of dominating badminton, with few lead changes throughout the games. The Danish pair dominated the opening game, with the second seeded Poles never leading in the opening game that they lost 21-19. The second game was a complete reverse, with the Polish pair dominating the second game, allowing the Danes to lead only twice in the entire second game at 1-0 and 6-5. Mateusiak and Kostiuczyk took the second game 21-18 to set up a third game.
The final game was a mirror of the first game, with the Danish pair leading from the start and not letting the Polish pair have a chance to take any kind of lead in the game. The 2nd seeds pulled it back to 13-12 before the world champions strung together 8 consecutive points to add the European title to their world crown, winning the match 21-19, 18-21, 21-12 in exactly one hour.
The English interest in the tournament is down to just three, whilst the Danish and German teams have plenty of interest in most of the events going into the weekend.
Top seed Peter Gade was in fine form after his 3 game scare against Raul Must yesterday, his opponent was the 8th seeded Carl Baxter of England for a place in the last 4. 35 minutes is all it took for Gade to win the match by the score of 21-14, 21-11. The top seed Dane will play Marc Zweibler of Germany in the semi final after the German 3rd seed beat 5th seeded Dicky Palyama in their quarterfinal match. After dropping the opening game, Zweibler battled back to take the match 19-21, 21-10, 21-16.
The other semi final is between the 2nd seeded Jan O Jorgensen, who defeated fellow Dane Joachim Persson in his quarterfinal 21-13, 21-17 to reach the last 4. He plays the 4th seeded Englishman Rajiv Ouseph after he defeated the final unseeded player in the draw, Ireland’s Scott Evans in three games 15-21, 23-21, 21-12, with Scott Evans having a match point at 21-20 in the second game.
Pi Hongyan continues to live up to her top seed with a three game victory over the 5th seeded Petya Nedelcheva, winning 21-15, 14-21, 21-12 to book her place in the semi final against Juliane Schenk of Germany, who beat the 7th seeded Judith Meulendijks in three games also, winning 21-16, 16-21, 21-15 to set up the first semi final.
The second semi final sees the 6th seeded Ella Diehl take on the 2nd seeded Tine Rasmussen. The Russian defeated 4th seeded Jie Yao in two games, 21-18, 21-17 to set up a match against the Danish 2nd seeded. She defeated Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff in two games also, 21-8, 21-16.
The Danish domination in the men’s doubles continues, with all 3 seeded pairs safely progressing to the last 4 without the loss of a game at the quarterfinal stage. They are joined the semi finals by the German pair of Michael Fuchs and Ingo Kindervater, who defeated Peter Mills and Marcus Ellis of England in three games to progress to the last 4.
3 of the 4 seeds are still in the women’s doubles draw, with only the 3rd seeded French pair of Choinet and Rasadi falling to English pair Agathangelou and Olver in three games. The unseeded English ladies play top seeds Nedelcheva and Russkikh for a place in Sunday’s final. The other semi final is between Danes Damkjear Kruse and Schjott-Kristensen, seeded 4 and Vislova and Sorokina of Russia, seeded 2.
The top three seeds in the mixed doubles have been joined in the semi finals by Belgian duo Claes and Descamps, they defeated Kindervater and Overzier in three games to set up a match against top seeded Laybourn and Rytter Juhl of Denmark. The other semi final is between Poland’s Mateusiak and Kostiuczyk and England’s Robertson and Wallwork, with both pairs coming through their quarterfinal matches in two games.
The doubles competitions began play this morning in Manchester, as well the 3rd round of the singles, with no more seeds falling in either event. The big news of the day for the local fans was Anthony Clark’s withdrawal from both doubles events.
Peter Gade is through to the last 8, but was forced to work for his win against Raul Must of Estonia. The Estonian shocked the top seed and took the second game to set up a 3rd game, but after 69 minutes the top seed progressed into tomorrow’s quarterfinals, winning 21-15, 19-21, 21-18. Gade will play Carl Baxter in the last 8, after the English 8th seed defeated Jan Vondra 21-16, 21-9 in his 3rd round match today.
There also wins for Rajiv Ouseph and Dicky Palyama, both players winning in three games to book their place in the last 8. England were hopeful of a 3rd player in the last 8 as Andrew Smith took on Marc Zweibler of Germany in the last 16, but after sharing the opening 10 points, Zweibler took the next 8 before Andrew Smith retired through injury trailing 13-5 in the first game.
The last unseeded player in the draw is Ireland’s Scott Evans, who plays Rajiv Ouseph in the last 8 tomorrow. The 4th quarterfinal is an all-Danish affair, with Joachim Persson (Seeded 6) playing Jan O Jorgensen (Seeded 2) for a place in Saturday’s semi final.
All 8 seeds have safely progressed into the last 8, with only 6th seed Ella Diehl dropping a game so far. Pi Hongyan continues to dominate her half of the draw, today defeating Camilla Sorensen of Denmark, 21-18, 21-5 to book her place against Petya Nedelcheva, who defeated England’s Elizabeth Cann 21-13, 21-13 to progress into tomorrow’s quarterfinal.
Juliane Schenk will play Judith Meulendijks tomorrow in the second quarterfinal, 3rd seeded Schenk defeated Switzerland’s Jeanine Cicognini 21-19, 21-9 whilst 7th seeded Meulendijks beat Iceland’s Ranga Ingolfsdottir 21-15, 21-10 to book her place in tomorrow’s quarter final.
The bottom half of the draw sees Ella Diehl, seeded 6th play Yao Jie of the Netherlands for a place in the last 4. The Dutch 4th seed beat Karin Schnaase of Germany 21-16, 21-7 to progress whist the 6th seeded Russian had to come from a game down to beat England’s Helen Davies 17-21, 21-16, 21-11.
Susan Egelstaff, seeded 8 is through to play Tine Rasmussen of Denmark, the 2nd seed in the last of the quarterfinals tomorrow. Both ladies have failed to drop a game getting to this stage of the competition, with Susan Egelstaff dropping 4 less points to this stage and been on court just 3 minutes less than her Danish opponent.
In the Men’s Doubles, all 3 of the seeded Danish pairs have safely made into the last 8. Only the pre-tournament withdrawal of the 3rd seeded Robertson and Clark means that there isn’t a full compliment of seeds in the last 8. However there is English interest still, with Peter Mills and Marcus Ellis through to the last 8 to play German pair Michael Fuchs and Ingo Kindervater.
All 4 seeds in the Women’s Doubles are through, with neither of the four pairs losing a game on route to the last 8. The top seeded Nedelcheva and Russkikh play Frier Kristiansen and Ropke of Denmark, who progressed to the last 8 with a 21-10, 21-1 win over their Greek opponents in Round 2. The 2nd seeded Russian duo of Vislova and Sorokina play the Scottish pair of Emma Mason and Imogen Bankier who failed to drop a game in both their matches today.
Only 4 seeds remain from the 8 that begun the mixed doubles, top seeds and current world champions Laybourn and Rytter Juhl safely progressed through both matches today to reach the last 8 and are the only seed remaining in the top half of the draw after losing Middleton and Agathangelou (Seeded 6), Durkin and Vislova (Seeded 4) and Adcock and White (Seeded 7) in the opening round this morning. Jenny Wallwork and Nathan Robertson are the last English pair left in the competition, the 3rd seeds play Sorokina and Nikolaenko of Russia for a place in the last 4.
The first round proper begun with the top seed men’s singles player Bao Chunlai in action, his opponent Sven-Eric Kastens posing little threat as the #1 seed progressed 21-9, 21-11 into round two. The majority of the seeds in the men’s singles had little trouble in progressing into the second round, Dicky Palyama who is seeded 6th was taken the full distance by Rei Sato of Japan, eventually the Dutch seed won 18-21, 21-11, 21-14. The bottom half of the men’s singles draw also had no shocks with the seeds, with Marc Zweibler progressing 22-20, 21-11 over Wei Feng Chong. Chen Long also safely marched into round 2 with his 21-7, 21-9 win over Dharma Gunawi.
The men’s doubles lost its top seed Choong and Lee of Malaysia in Round 1 at the hands of Liao and Wu of Chinese Tapiei, 21-18, 22-20. Another Malayian seed fell later in the day, with the 6th seeded Chan and Lim losing out to Japanese duo Endo and Hirobe in three games, 13-21, 21-18, 21-15. The second seeded Lin and Chen progressed in a tight two game encouter with the Danish pair Conrad-Petersen and Kolding, 21-16, 21-17.
The women’s singles suffered the biggest fallout regarding the seeds, 8th seeded Judith Meulendijks crashed out to Jeanine Cicognini in a three game encounter, 18-21, 21-15, 21-15 to the Swiss player. Petya Nedelcheva, the 5th seed was the next seed to fall. Trupti Murgurdi of India beating the Bulgarian seed 12-21, 21-8, 21-14 to progress into Round 2. It was a bad day for the Dutch ladies, as 4th seeded Yao Jie was the 3rd seed to lose out in the opening round, Tse Ying Suet defeating the 4th seed, 22-20, 21-13.
The women’s doubles seen the 3rd and 4th seeds progress into Round 2, where the top 2 Chinese seeds will play their opening match in the event. The 3rd seeded Cheng and Chien came through a 3-game match against Russkikh and Nedelcheva to book their place in the second round. The 4th seed Russian pair of Sorokina and Vislova had little problem in their opening match, defeating Heisbol and Skelbae of Denmarr 21-14, 21-19 to book their place in Round 2.
Round 2’s matches begin with the top seeded Bao Chunlai in action at 9am on Thursday.
Group A – Winners: Denmark
Their record to date stands immaculate, four 5-0 victories to the loss of just one game. All without even fielding Peter Gade. They are the nation to beat in this competition without a doubt and haven’t even been tested en route to the semi final after a rest day on Thursday.
Group B – Winners: Poland
Thursday night seen the winner-take-all match between Poland and England for a place in the knockout stages, after two tight three game encounters left Poland 2-0 up, Hubert Paczek completed the job in a two game victory over Carl Baxter. Poland next two games were marred by retirements in both games, with the last rubber match with Rafal Hawel leading after winning the first game.
Group C – Winners: Netherlands
The Dutch progression to the knockout rounds never looked in jeopardy, but their only two losses have both came from their #1 singles player, Rune Massing. Who will need to improve in order to defeat the Group F winners.
Group D – Winners: Germany
Germany’s progression was sealed in impressive fashion, with three 5-0 victories to the loss of just 2 games. With the singles players in excellent form ahead of their quarterfinal clash with Russia.
Group E – Winners: Russia
The Russian doubles have been unbeatable in group stage action, and their only defeats have come in the singles, Ivan Sozonov has not returned to action since his opening day retirement against Italy.
Group F: Winners – Ukraine
The Ukraine’s closest match came on the opening day in a 3-2 win over Wales, after trailing 2-1. Two 4-1 victories secured Ukraines place in the knockout round against the Netherlands.
Group A – Winners: Denmark
Played 3, Won 3. Played 15 Games, Won 15. The Danish women are putting down a real marker that they are here to retain their title from 2008. They will have a rest day tomorrow before taking on the winner of Germany and Bulgaria.
Group B – Winners: Netherlands
For 20 minutes, Belgium was level with Netherlands 1-1 in their final group match and the Dutch qualification was under threat. They rallied back to win the next three and win the match 4-1 to ensure their place in the knockout round.
Group C – Winners: Russia
A rare outing for Nina Vislova in singles ensured Russia’s 4-1 victory over England to progress into the knockout stage, with their second doubles pairing loss in the final match being their only defeat in the group stage.
Group D – Winners: Germany
Only Karin Schnasse’s loss to Carolina Marin stops Germany going into the knockout stage with a perfect record. Juliane Schenk has been in fine form in the three singles matches to date.
Group E – Winners: Scotland
Scotland are the only nation in the knockout stage to have lost a match but still progressed. Susan Egelstaff posted her first victory of the event today against Anna Narel whilst Mason and Bankier have gone unbeaten in all three matches.
Group F – Winners: Bulgaria
Three 5-0 victories will ensure that the Bulgarians are not taken lightly in the knockout stage, as Germany will find out tomorrow. Bulgaria in 30 games of action have allowed just 297 points, under 10 points a game.
Men’s Quarter Final
Germany vs. Russia
Zweibler vs. Malkov
Domke vs. Ivanov
Reuter vs. Pukhov
Schoettler/Hopp vs. Durkin/Nicolaenko
Kasbauer/Hoth vs. Dremin/Pukhov
Russia’s key to success if that they have to take one of the singles and go into the doubles, Zweibler and Malkov met in the 2009 Scottish Open where Zweibler won comfortably. The longer the match goes on, the better the chances are that the Russian’s will win as Durkin/Nicolaenko are one of the top partnerships in Europe at the moment.
Netherlands vs. Ukraine
Massing vs. Zavadsky
Oey vs. Atrashchenkov
Afif vs. Druzchenko
Ridder/Oey vs. Konov/Zavadsky
Arands/Khodabux vs. Atrashchenkov/Druzcenko
Ukraine need to take advantage of Massing’s form in the group stages, this is a match that Ukraine need to win early as most of their players are playing two matches and fatigue could be a defining factor.
Germany vs. Bulgaria
Schenk vs. Nedelcheva
Schnasse vs. Zechiri
Deprez vs. Popstoykova
Overzier/Marinello vs. Nedelcheva/Popstoykova
Neite/Goliszewki vs. Dimova/Zechiri
This could be the closest match tomorrow, with the potential of this going down to the final rubber as real possibility. It could come down to who wins 2 of the 3 singles matches.
Scotland vs. Russia
Egelstaff vs. Diehl
Sloan vs. Bibik
Gilmour vs. Prokopenko
Mason/Bankier vs. Vislova/Sorokina
Cooper/Sloan vs. Pollikarpova/Prokopenko
Scotland will need another inspired performance from Susan Egelstaff to defeat Ella Diehl like in the 2009 Scottish Open, Emma Mason lost out to Sorokina and Vislova in the women’s double final in the Scottish Open last year. The match could be in the hands of 16-year old Kirsty Gilmour as Russia haven’t settled on their #3 singles player. Scotland need at least two singles victory to stand a chance.