European Badminton Championships: anticipation despite injury worries
The European Badminton Championships start on Monday in Saarbrücken – without German hopefuls Mark Lamsfuß, Marvin Seidel and Yvonne Li.
The first home European Championships in 42 years are just around the corner – and in the week before the tournament begins, two DBV hopefuls have been forced to pull out due to injuries. European doubles champion Mark Lamsfuß announced his withdrawal on Tuesday. His dream of defending his men’s doubles title with Marvin Seidel and mixed title with Isabel Lohau in front of a home crowd disappeared before the first rally was even played in the Saarlandhalle. Isabel Lohau will still be lining up for the women’s doubles with Linda Efler, but for Marvin Seidel, his partner’s injury means that he is also out of the tournament. Friday morning then brought the next bad news: Yvonne Li was also forced to withdraw. The German champion in the women’s singles has been battling knee problems for a while and will not be fit in time for the tournament.
However, although these withdrawals might slightly dampen the mood of the German fans in the run up to the championships, there are countless other reasons to drop by Saarbrücken’s Saarlandhalle between 8 and 14 April. We take a look at the draw for all the German athletes:
Men’s singles:
The lottery gods have not been kind to Kai Schäfer (aged 30 | WR: 81): at the last two European Championships, the Darmstadt native has faced Denmark’s Anders Antonsen (currently ranked fourth in the world). He avoided this difficult pairing at the home championships – but instead has ended up facing defending champion Viktor Axelsen. Schäfer took this with a sense of humour: ‘Finally a bit of variety!’ Variety that could cost Schäfer entry to the Olympic Games – as it currently stands he has not yet qualified, and his only way of gaining further points is to beat Axelsen. Schäfer therefore needs the support of the entire Saarlandhalle at 7 p.m. on Wednesday!
Fabian Roth (aged 28 | WR: 86) is similarly fighting for a ticket to the Olympics in a long-distance duel with Schäfer – and currently is also outside of the qualification zone. The player from Karlsruhe will play Luka Wraber of Austrian in the first round of the European Championships on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. The third German men’s singles competitor to be in the starting lineup is two-time German champion Matthias Kicklitz (aged 22 | WR: 113). This young hopeful received a wild card for the home European Championships. He will face either Mark Caljouw (Netherlands, playing for Saarbrücken in the German league) or Bruno Carvalho (Portugal) on Wednesday.
Women’s singles:
The withdrawal of fifth seed Yvonne Li leaves Miranda Wilson (aged 23 | WR: 189) as the only remaining German competitor. This Stuttgart native begins with a bye, then will meet either Rachael Darragh (Ireland) or Ksenia Polikarpova (Israel) in the second round. This would set up a potential last-sixteen match against seventh seed Neslihan Arin from Turkey.
Men’s doubles:
Germany’s men’s doubles could end up tipping the scales in French qualifications for the Olympics. It might sound crazy, but it’s true: Lucas Corvée and Ronan Labar are competing with Christo and Toma Junior Popov for a French Olympic ticket. The Popov brothers are currently very slightly ahead. However, if Corvée/Labar reach at least the last sixteen and finish a round farther ahead than the Popovs, they will have caught up enough to gain entry to the mega event in their native country. And this is where the German men come into play, as both French pairs will be facing German doubles teams in at the European Championships: Corvée/Labar are up against German champions Bjarne Geiss and Jan Colin Völker (both aged 26 | WR: 53) on Tuesday evening, whilst the Popovs will be meeting Daniel Hess and Patrick Scheiel (both aged 25 | WR: 98), also on Tuesday evening. The newly formed doubles pairing of old hand Jones Jansen and youngster Kenneth Neumann (aged 31 and 19 | WR: 95) received a wild card for the tournament in Saarbrücken – and are facing seventh seeded Danes Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard in the first round.
Women’s doubles:
Linda Efler and Isabel Lohau (aged 29 and 32 | WR: 39) are one of the major remaining hopes for a German medal at the European Championships. However, during the tournament, the 2022 European Championship runners up could end up facing their most feared opponents: the Stoeva sisters. The Germans have not won a single one of the matches they have played against each other – which is more than enough of an incentive to emerge victorious in the quarter final in front of a home crowd. Efler/Lohau start on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. with a match against Dutch players Diede Odijk/Iris Van Leijsen. The second German women’s doubles team of Julia Meyer and Leona Michalski (aged 19 and 21 | WR:85) are playing Slovenian team Kim Matovic/Zoja Novak.
Mixed:
Lamsfuß/Lohau, Germany’s big title hopes, will not be competing. Instead, German eyes will be on the remaining three pairs: Patrick Scheiel and Franziska Volkmann (aged 25 and 29 | WR: 67) have ended up with a rather difficult draw against Danish players Jesper Toft/Clara Graversen (WR: 38), who the Germans have never beaten. Young mixed team Malik Bourakkadi and Leona Michalski (aged 20 and 21 | WR: 81) are facing Ties Van Der Lecq and Deborah Jille from the Netherlands. Thanks to a second wild card, Jones Jansen will be playing alongside Thuc Phuong Nguyen (aged 31 and 21 | WR: 97) in the first round against Swedes Jakob Ekman and Nathalie Wang.
Livestream on Sportschau.de and HYLO.SPORT
Anyone not able to get to Saarbrücken next week can cheer the team on through the screen. All matches will be broadcast on www.hylo.sport from Monday. All evening matches and all with German competitors will be shown with commentary. Tom Kuehner and Thomas Fuchs will be taking turns in the commentator’s seat, supported by current or former players from the German national team.