England held off a battling display from Sweden to top Group 2 at the 2017 European Mixed Team Championships yesterday in Lubin, Poland.
England will next meet Group 3 runners-up Netherlands in the quarter-finals, while Sweden face defending champions Denmark, top-placed team in Group 1. The other quarter-finals will see France against Russia and Germany against Poland.
With the tie precariously placed at 2-2, Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock (featured image) stood firm for England, claiming a narrow 21-19 21-18 win over Nico Ruponen/Amanda Hogstrom in the final Mixed Doubles match.
Earlier, Henri Hurskainen had given the lead for Sweden, overcoming Toby Penty in the opening Men’s Singles, 21-15 20-22 21-13.
Fontaine Mica Chapman needed just 23 minutes to storm past Emma Karlsson (Women’s Singles) 21-12 21-10 before Olympic bronze medallists Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge made it 2-1 beating Richard Eidestedt/Nico Ruponen 21-11 21-18 (Men’s Doubles).
The tie got more engrossing as Emma Wengberg/Clara Nistad fought past Lauren Smith/Sarah Walker, 22-20 9-21 21-17 (Women’s Doubles) to level the tie for Sweden.
However, the accomplished duo Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock did not succumb to pressure and closed out the tie 21-19 21-18 over Ruponen and Hogstrom.
The other group ties on the day were mostly one-sided. Denmark and Russia both routed their opponents – France (Group 1) and Poland (Group 4) respectively – with 5-0 margins. Netherlands enjoyed a 4-1 result over Switzerland in the morning but were then handed the same treatment by Germany in the evening in Group 3. Spain crashed to their second loss as they went down 4-1 to Russia; the only win coming from Beatriz Corrales in the Women’s Singles.
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