White Nights 2014 – Russians take two at home

This year the European circuit tournament White Nights 2014 brought together 150 participants from 15 countries to the small city Gatchina in the Leningrad region. The Russians took home two titles, and Dieter Domke of Germany mirrored his national football team’s performance to overcome Frenchman Rouxel in the men’s singles final.

By Olga Morozova, Badzine special correspondent live in Gatchina. Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives) and Olga Morozova (live).

The finals day started with the mixed doubles, where  Russian duo  Evgenij Dremin / Evgenia Dimova met with Robert Mateusiak / Agniezka Wojtkowska from Poland.  Throughout the match the Russians dominated on court, with a combination of powerful smashes from the back line and active net play bringing the advantage to the confident Russians, as they won in two games, 21-17 21-12.

Unfortunately, top seed Ville Lång couldn’t contain Frenchman Thomas Rouxel in the semi-final and Dieter Domke (pictured left) also faced a tough battle in the final. The 2m-tall German beat Thomas Rouxel in straight games, requiring extra points to win as he took the match 21-16, 25-23.

“It was a really difficult tournament for me because of my injured leg,” said Dieter Domke after the match. “I knew that I had to fight in every match, for every point. But I’m really happy with the result I got. I decided to take a break after the White Nights and cure my injury.”

In the men’s doubles event, the German pair of Beck / Heinz reached the final after beating the #1-seeded duo Cwalina / Wacha in two close games. The Germans progressed to face another Polish combination in the final in Moren / Szkudlarczyk (pictured right). This time, however, the Poles were stronger as they took the match 21-18, 21-17.

The women’s singles final saw the Bulgarian representatives sort things out, as the experienced Petya Nedelcheva defeated young compatriot Stephanie Stoeva in two games, the score 21-14, 21-17.

Last but not least, the final match saw two Russian women’s doubles pairs end the day. Evgeniya Kosetskaya and Ekaterina Bolotova, who beat the top-seeded Stoeva sisters in the previous round, took the first game with confidence against compatriots Golovanova / Vorobeva. The fight in the second game was more stubborn, but Evgeniya and Ekaterina rallied their flagging strength to put an end to the match, 21-14, 26-24.

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