Three of the four seeded pairs in men’s doubles play today for a place in the final at the European Games.
Top seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen won a thrilling quarterfinal against France’s Ronan Labar/Thom Gicquel of France, 23-21 20-22 21-17.
“It could have gone either way today. They played a great game and made it very difficult for us. We tried to do our best and I am very happy pulling through after a tough day,” Astrup said.
Baku 2015 silver medallists Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov of Russia defeated Alex Vlaar/Dimitar Yanakiev (Bulgaria) 21-15 21-18 to also progress.
“It was a very difficult arena for us today. The shuttles were fast and the Bulgarians played very well,” Ivanov said.
“It was hard to get control on the net and our soft play was not good because we did not have control of the shuttle,” Sozonov added.
A great win from @teamGB Langridge & Ellis in the men's doubles. They now go through to the Semi- finals! pic.twitter.com/X723n8lMmS
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) June 27, 2019
Second seeds Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge won in straight games against Finnish pair Anton Kaisti/Oskari Larkimo while Jelle Maas and Robin Tabeling knocked out German fourth seeds Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel 16-21 21-17 21-18.
Felix was the big winner on Thursday.
“We played amazing. It is hard to describe what we felt on court,” Maas said.
Other Matches
Sweden’s Felix Burestedt provided one of the shocks of the tournament knocking out current holder of the men’s singles title, Pablo Abian.
He prevailed 21-14 11-21 23-21. The 24-year-old will now be aiming even higher when he plays Raul Must from Estonia in the quarterfinals.
“This is a new experience for me and I am very happy that I managed to take the win,” Burestedt said.
“I knew that he had a lot of experience with these big matches and has been on the tour for a long time.
“It is very high in my achievements. I need time to let things settle down.”
In women’s singles, Denmark’s top two seeds Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt and Mia Blichfeldt both won through to the quarterfinals.
Full Results: https://bit.ly/2xdxodM
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