The upcoming event of badminton – after the Korean Open won by Lin Dan — is European Mixed Team Championship 2011 being held in Amsterdam, Netherlands from Feb 15-20. The event is 21st
edition of the tournament being organised by the Badminton Europe and Netherlands Badminton Board. Total 32 teams are participating in the tournament. Greece withdrew their team from the event. The teams are drawn into eight groups.
Denmark is the defending champions – also 13 times winner – and they are placed top seeded in the event. Germany got the second seed spot due to their good performance in individual international
tournaments. England, 5-times winners are seeded third. The seeded nations are:
- Denmark
- Germany
- England
- Russia
- Netherlands
- France
- Ukraine
- Poland
As mentioned earlier that this is 21st edition of the tournament. Denmark has won the title 13 times, England five times and Sweden has won the title two times since the first
edition of the tournament in 1972. The teams are drawn into eight groups; each comprising four teams.
|
Group 1 |
Group 2 |
Group 3 |
Group 4 |
|
Denmark (#1) |
Germany(#2) |
England(#3) |
Russia(#4) |
|
Group 5 |
Group 6 |
Group 7 |
Group 8 |
|
Netherlands(#5) |
France(#6) |
Ukraine(#7) |
Poland(#8) |
The draws were conducted on December 17, 2010. The winners of group matches – from Feb 15-17 — will meet in the quarter-finals knockout stage according to the following draws:
18 February
Winner Group 1 vs Winner Group 8
Winner group 3 vs Winner Group 7
Winner Group 5 vs Winner Group 4
Winner Group 6 vs Winner Group 2
Semi-final will be held on February 19 and the final on February 20, 2011.
England – the runner-up in the last event held in 2009 – look keen to grab the title from Denmark, 13 times winner of the event and current defending champion. They have named a strong
squad for the championship including both young and experienced blood. The squad comprises Carl Baxter, Chris Langridge, Heather Olver, Andy Ellis, Sarah Walker and Rajiv Ouseph. Nathan Robertson and Anthony Clark would be the key players in the squad with
Elizebeth Cann, the commonwealth bronze medallist, as the most experienced player.
Denmark, on the other hand, is ready to retain the title they snatched from England in 2009. The Danish squad includes Jan Ø. Jørgensen, Hans Kristian Vittinghus, Karina Jørgensen, Tine
Baun – All England Open women’s single title winner 2008 and 2010 — Mathias Boe – winner of Denmark Super Series and French Super Series 2010 — Rasmus Bonde, Anders Kristiansen, Thomas Laybourn, Carsten Mogensen, Joachim Fischer Nielsen, Kamilla Rytter Juhl,
Christinna Pedersen and Marie Røpke.
It is the second time the European Badminton Championships are split into two events over two years. European Individual Badminton Championship will be held in Karlskrona, Sweden in April
2012.