Denmark and Canada both win double continental team titles

Denmark won the men’s and women’s titles at the European Badminton Team Championships in Kazan while Canada did likewise in the Pan Am region, completing the qualifier list for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in May.

Photos: Mikael Ropars / Badmintonphoto (live from Kazan)

Team Denmark had picked up both the men’s and women’s team titles 4 of the last 5 times the European Badminton Team Championships were held.  Hence it was no surprise when they extended their streak of double titles to three consecutive editions.

The last time the Danes were denied either title was in 2012, when interestingly, Germany’s star Juliane Schenk was unable to topple the mighty Tine Baun in singles but she did contribute a point in doubles.  What’s more, Olga Konon, the only player Germany fielded in both the 2012 and 2018 finals, won a singles point in the latter but was unable find success in doubles 6 years later.

Denmark took the final from Germany 3-1 but the only match to go the full distance was actually made up of three rather one-sided games.  Luise Heim took her opener from Line Kjaersfeldt but the Dane was relentless in the next two.

In the men’s final, Denmark got out to a 2-0 lead but England’s Sam Parsons beat Emil Holst to give the challengers a ray of hope.  Hopes were even higher in the fourth match when Peter Briggs / Sean Vendy were on the verge of winning the battle of the scratch pairings.  They had no fewer than 5 match points against Kim Astrup / Mathias Christiansen (pictured) before letting the second game slip away 27-29 and then fizzling in the decider.

Canada’s two wins in Trinidad and Tobago were much less eventful on court but more significant historically.  2018 will mark the first time that Canada will field both a men’s and a women’s team at a combined Thomas and Uber Cup Finals.  Never able to do so back with the Finals included only 8 teams per Cup, Canada has never been able to top their continent in more than one division even after Pan Am was guaranteed a Finals entry starting in 2004.  In fact, you have to go back to the 1975 Uber Cup and 1976 Thomas Cup for the last time that Canada qualified for the final stage, which at the time was known as the Inter-zone Play-offs.

Canada’s success left the United States with two runner-up finishes, the same fate that befell China in the Asian Team Championships, New Zealand in Oceania, and Nigeria in the All Africa Teams.  Canada and Denmark thus join Australia in winning two continental team titles in 2018, while 2 other European nations and 8 from Asia will also be sending both men’s and women’s teams to the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Bangkok.

Shown below are the projected qualifiers for the event in May.  The confirmed lists will not be available until after the new rankings are released on February 22nd.

* projected to qualify based on team ranking

* projected to qualify based on team ranking

Click here for complete results from the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships

Click here for complete results from the Pan Am Men’s and Women’s Team Championships