EURO MIXED TEAM CHAMPS 2015 SF – England back in final

England is back in the final of the European Mixed Team Championships after they edged Russia 3-2 in the semi-finals Saturday in Leuven, Belgium.

Photos: Yohan Nonotte for Badmintonphoto (live)

After an unexpected loss to Russia in the mixed, Gabrielle Adcock made up for it by winning in the women’s doubles with Lauren Smith (pictured above).

England’s opponents in the final will be Denmark, for the 13th time in the history of the event.  The Danes relied on three heavy favourites, with Christinna Pedersen winning in both mixed and women’s doubles (pictured below with Kamilla Rytter Juhl).

In fact, nearly all the winners were punching above their weight class in the first semi-final. Things looked dire for England after Russia’s scratch pairing Evgeniya Kosetskaya / Ivan Sozonov (pictured above) got the better of world #6 Chris and Gabrielle Adcock in the opening match of the tie.  England was able to draw back level with the expected win from Rajiv Ouseph but the Russians then had three higher ranked entries to rely on for just two more points.

Sozonov again found success in the men’s doubles in his world #14 pairing with Vladimir Ivanov, but not before Fontaine Chapman (pictured below) had put England in front with a win over Ksenia Polikarpova in the women’s singles.  Once the score evened up after the men’s doubles, the stage was set for Smith and White to pull of the clinching upset.

In the second semi-final, which was a repeat of the 2013 final between Denmark and Germany, the Scandinavians turned the tables.  They did suffer an upset when Germany’s scratch pairing of Max Schwenger / Michael Fuchs (pictured above) beat world #13 Mads Conrad-Petersen / Mads Pieler Kolding.

Viktor Axelsen (pictured below) had already added his contribution in the men’s singles by beating Dieter Domke in two quick games so the Danish dynasty was in good shape heading into the final match, where they were depending on European champions Pedersen and Rytter Juhl.

Click here for complete semi-final results