EURO GAMES 2015 – Abian and Danes take gold

The badminton event at the European Games in Baku ended with three golds for Denmark and Pablo Abian of Spain dealing the Danes their only silver.

By Don Hearn.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

After the Stoeva sisters took the first gold of the 2015 Baku European Games badminton event for of Bulgaria, it looked like everything else might go Denmark’s way.  The European powerhouse not only placed one finalist in each of the other four gold medal matches, but the first such saw Boe and Mogensen shockingly dominant over Russia’s reigning European champions.

Still, Pablo Abian (pictured) of Spain dispelled fears of a four-gold Danish romp early on Day 16 of the Games.  Abian cruised to a 21-12 win in his first game against Emil Holst in their men’s singles final.  He had more trouble in the second but still clinched it 23-21 to take Spain’s only badminton gold in Baku.

Line Kjaersfeldt got things going Denmark’s way again.  She dropped her first against  Lianne Tan but pulled off a rout in the decider, winning 21-9 to take the women’s singles gold.

The only chance for France to take gold was in the mixed doubles. Gaetan Mittelheisser / Audrey Fontaine were coming off a big win in the semi-final over the top-seeded Magee siblings from Ireland.  However, Niclas Nohr and Sara Thygesen (pictured) were too good on the day and they took Denmark’s third badminton gold.

We are now at the halfway point for multi-sport events in this pre-Olympic year.  With the SEA Games and European Games finished, the World University Games are set to commence next Friday in Gwangju, Korea, with the Toronto Pan Am Games coming up just a week later.

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