EURO MIXED TEAM CHAMPS 2015 Final – Number 15 for Denmark

After an intense duel with titleholder Germany in the semi-finals of the European Mixed Team Championships, Denmark required only 3 matches in their final battle with England. Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl’s victory was enough to secure the 15^th title for Team Denmark.

By Elm Vandevorst, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos: Yohan Nonotte (live)

Since the start of the tournament, the first edition of which was held in Karlskrona, Sweden in 1972, the Danes had already won the European Mixed Team Championships 14 times. Only Germany, England and Sweden have been able to breach the Danish dominance. But in Leuven, Belgium the English team weren’t able to stop the Danes from raising the trophy for the 15^th time.

The final began with an interesting encounter in the women’s singles, on paper the weakest link of the Danish team. Line Kjaersfeldt (pictured) was up against Fontaine Mica Chapman. In their previous encounter, at the Swedish Masters earlier this year, it was the latter who won in straight games. But today Kjaersfeldt outclassed her opponent and only needed 31 minutes to prevail 21-14, 21-11.

The second encounter was the match between world no.3 Jan O Jorgensen and the young Toby Penty. Until 18-18 in the first game, Penty was able to keep pace with his adversary and a surprise still seemed to be in the making. But the experienced Dane scored 3 points in a row, enough to guarantee him the game. With a more convincing 21-14 in the second, Denmark was now only one point away from a new title.

Could Heather Olver and Lauren Smith (pictured) avenge their loss at the European Mixed Team Championships two years ago against Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl? In Moscow, Olver and Smith lost 21-23, 13-21. And also in Leuven, the English women had to accept defeat 21-9 21-14.

At the same time, the Danes could start with their celebrations and for some of them this title was their first ever. Pedersen and Rytter Juhl shared their joy on their Facebook page: “Yesssss – Winner of the European Team Championship 2015. We are happy to be a part of the Danish team and throughout this tournament we have shown that we are the strongest nation in Europe. Great feeling.”

Final result: Denmark 3, England 0
WS: Line Kjaersfeldt (DEN) beat Fontaine Mica Chapman (ENG)  21-14, 21-11
MS: Jan O Jorgensen (DEN) beat Toby Penty     21-18, 21-14
WD: Christinna Pedersen / Kamilla Rytter Juhl (DEN) beat Heather Olver / Lauren Smith (ENG)  21-9, 21-14
MD: Mads Conrad-Petersen / Mads Pieler Kolding (DEN) vs. Marcus Ellis / Chris Langridge (ENG) [not played]
XD: Joachim Fischer Nielsen / Christinna Pedersen (DEN) vs. Chris Adcock / Gabrielle Adcock (ENG) [not played]

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