Euro Individuals SF – Schenk and Rasmussen power into final

Images, Article and Video by Mark Phelan (Live in Manchester)

Rasmussen got off to a slow start against the inform Diehl and at 14-14 in the first set the match was finely balanced on a knife edge. What happened next was extraordinary, and as if to suddenly shift into another gear, the All England champion the powered ahead to take the next 7 points and with it the first set.

In the second set the Russian, and recent Swiss Open semi-finalist, captured the early advantage as she led 6-4 but once again the experience and power of Rasmussen brought her right back into the set to tie at 7-7. From there Rasmussen once again shifted into overdrive and powered away from Diehl as she close out the match with a 21-16 win in the second and will meet Germany’s Juliane Schenk.

In the second semi-final Juliane Schenk (pictured) continued her good form of late by completely dominating a slightly out of sorts Pi Hongyan in every aspect of play. The number 1 seeded French player was unable to match the power of Schenk and her frustration was visible as she turned to head coach Fabrice Vallet in search of answers. There were no answers on this day as Schenk was in sparkling form and took the match in 2 sets.

While Tine has yet to win a European title and it is exactly a decade ago since a Dane has won this title through Camilla Martin in 2000, Schenk, on the other hand, will be digging deep to defend the women’s singles title for Germany as her compatriot Xu Huaiwen is the defending champion of the last 2 editions. Hear what the German had to say after her impressive victory by clicking on the video interview below: