Explanation by coach Uhre is more or less that Jan is the most experienced of the three being the #1 stand in for Gade in the past and this is a good opportunity for the other two to gain some more experience and a chance for Jan to grab some rest towards AE. Same for Tine and as she will retire after the AE and not be part of the Sudirman squad, this is a good time for the successors to grab some experience towards that.
Sorokina and Vislova on a good day could definetely challenge Christinna and Camilla, although there is a question mark for this team's form. Vladimir Ivanov beat Jan O Jorgensen in straight sets in their latet meeting in Korea this year. And who can be sure of Tine's mental and physical form these days as she is on the verge of retirement? Russia has advantage of the home court and with some luck and help from circumstances they could score a miracle win over Denmark. At least I think they are a bigger threat than Germany.
Based on what exactly . Sorokina-Vislova head-to-head is 0-2 with the following scorelines 6-21 10-21 & 9-21 12-21 and that was in their good period ... Against Kruse-Roepke they are 0-1 22-20 13-21 21-12 with a stole from behind first set. Ivanov was a fluke victory and Jorgensen is not there it turns out so an opportunity now with HKV and Axelsen underperforming at their national championship. Tine would destroy any of their WS, like she did at the Danish championships, but turns out now she will not even be there either so another opportunity has opened. MS Ivanov/Malkov vs HKV/Axelsen WS Diehl/Prok vs Kjaersfeldt MD Ivanov-Sozonov vs Boe-Mogensen WD Sorokina-Vislova vs Juhl-Pedersen XD Ivanov/Sozonov-Sorokina vs Fischer-Pedersen But let's not forget the SF will be vs Germany first: MS Ivanov/Malkov vs Zwiebler WS Diehl/Prok/Perm vs Schenk/Konon MD Ivanov-Sozonov vs Kindervater-Schoettler WD Sorokina-Vislova vs Goliszewski/Schenk-Michels XD Ivanov/Sozonov-Sorokina vs Fuchs-Michels
While we're at it SF Denmark vs England MS HKV/Axelsen vs Ouseph WS Kjaersfeldt vs Walker MD Boe-Mogensen vs Adcock-Ellis WD Juhl-Pedersen vs Smith-White (Wallwork-White?) XD Fischer-Pedersen vs Adcock/White? Langridge/Olver?
No surprises on opening day Date: 2/12/2013 http://www.badmintoneurope.com/cms/default.aspx?clubid=4685&m=608922&cmsid=239&pageid=5381 Excerpts: Germany’s Marc Zwiebler was put under some early pressure from Estonia’s Raul Must before the European Champion eventually prevailed in three games. “It was a long days travelling yesterday and I was not feeling too good on court today. But I knew Raul would run and run so I just stayed focused to get the win” said Zwiebler. Germany introduced Juliane Schenk in the final women’s doubles after utilising the versatile Olga Konon at singles. Schenk, only back from Indonesian league duty, showed no ill effects of her exhaustive travel schedule in taking the match alongside partner Johanna Goliszewski to give the Germans their first clean sweep. Denmark entered the fray in the evening session and never had to extend themselves to destroy near neighbours Norway. Natalia Koch Rhode made her senior debut at women’s singles and the Danes anchored by Rasmus Bonde and Line Kjaersfeldt who made two appearances each sent out a clear message to their nearest challengers that they still are the team to be beaten. ...The only blip on the English copy book was Sarah Walkers first set loss to Ieva Pope. The new English national champion settle her nerves to bounce back to win in three to set England up nicely ahead of their clash with Lithuania. In two of the most eagerly anticipated ties of the round Ireland destroyed Finland 4-1 with Scott Evans continuing the good run of form that saw him win two circuit tournaments in the past two months. “It was always going to be 50/50 in my match against Ville Lang so I was pleasantly surprised with the way I beat him. The rest of the team performed well and this will give us great confidence in what should be a group shoot out against France” said Scott Evans to Badminton Europe.
It is said that Birgit is not 100% fit. So the German line up might not have been as tactical as I thought.
The line up of Spain against Estonia is also kind of interesting... XD Pablo Abian Carolina Marin MS Ernesto Velazquez WS Beatriz Corrales MD Ernesto Velazquez Pablo Abian WD Beatriz Corrales Carolina Marin
What is "interesting" about it? Beatriz is more than capable of taking the WS match, the rest is to have your best players form the best doubles. Must could have possibly beaten Abian anyway so sacrifice the MS and aim for the XD and MD ... (Estonia is not as strong as a few years ago anymore anyway) Maybe these are the only players for Spain that made the trip Just looked it up: "Bajo la dirección técnica de Anders Thomsen, hasta la ciudad rusa se han desplazado Carolina Marín y Beatriz Corrales por el lado femenino y Pablo Abián y Ernesto Velázquez por parte masculina"
Interesting from a German point of view maybe... I'm pretty sure that their line up will be a little bit different against Germany tomorrow.
Possible QF scenario : DEN v SCO or Czech Republic ENG v SWE RUS v NED GER v FRA Europe best team and defending champion Denmark all the way will cruise into finale.
In the Evening - Spain vs. Germany - not an easy opponent for Germany at all. Pablo Abian leads 2 - 1 against Zwiebler in Head to Head. But after a surprising lineup from Spain against Estonia, I'm kinda curious how Spain will lineup against Germany today.